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Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > June > 03 > Entry
County, unions prepare to face off without Duckett
Butler County leaders say they can’t let the loss of their personnel director slow them down as they prepare to cut labor costs to address a $6 million budget shortfall.
“I don’t think we can afford to delay it,” said County Administrator Tim Williams, saying he hopes to pull from the county prosecutor’s office and other personnel offices in the county to get the job done.
Once Personnel Director Douglas Duckett’s resignation becomes effective in August, they’ll already be more than $100,000 closer to their goal. But the other $5.9 million will require someone to handle labor negotiations and, under the worse case scenario, draft a massive layoff plan.
“I don’t’ think any one person, including me, is indispensable,” Duckett said, adding, “There was not time I could leave that would not potentially be a bad time. I was aware of that. It weighed on me.”
Duckett said he doesn’t have another job lined up, and would not elaborate on his reason for leaving, saying only it was “a personal decision based on what’s best for me in my life and my career.”
Contracts with seven of the county’s 12 unions — representing 40 percent of county employees — expire this year, and the county is seeking to reopen talks with all of them.
And if they do, these could be tougher negotiations than Duckett has overseen in recent years. Commissioners have made no secret about seeking concession, including furloughs, pay cuts and freezes, or they may resort to layoffs.
“A lot of guys live paycheck to paycheck, and you want them to go without a paycheck?” said Butler County Sheriff’s Deputy Brett Casteel. “You’re going to see more homes in foreclosure and things like that if you start taking more pay away from people.”
Casteel is president of the county’s largest union, Fraternal Order of Police, representing roughly 170 sheriff’s deputies.
The FOP was preparing to start negotiations in the fall in hopes of having a new three-year contract in February. “With the recent news of Duckett leaving, I don’t know that will happen that way,” Casteel said.
But Casteel said he’s open to starting talks early, and hinted — but did not say — that he may be willing to talk concessions. “We want to try to save people’s jobs, too,” he said.
Casteel said some deputies may be willing to take voluntary furloughs, but mandatory leave without pay would be devastating. “You get paid twice a month. You take one of those away, and which one is that, your house payment or your car payment?” he said.
But if it comes to layoffs, Casteel said the contract should be changed to allow the county to lay off people who are collecting both a pension and a payckeck first. The current language cuts staff by seniority, which would cut the “double dippers” last.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: County Commission
Comments
By 12 hour shifts don't work
June 3, 2009 10:49 AM | Link to this
Well, the 12 hour shifts are not working. Employees are using more sick leave to recoupe from longer hours. Also hiring 3 or 4 more workers with no bennefits was not good. The extra funds should not have been used for hiring spouses or relatives of current employees.