Baltimore County's labor commissioner rejected yesterday most of a fact-finder's recommendations in negotiations between the county and two unions, including one that the county give the workers a 3 percent pay raise. The unions said they will seek nonbinding arbitration to resolve the dispute.
In a one-page letter to the attorney representing the unions -- the Baltimore County Federation of Public Employees and the Baltimore County Federation of Public Health Nurses -- Labor Commissioner George E. Gay wrote that the county "will not be following the recommendations" in six of the eight areas that the fact-finder addressed.
Gay's letter indicates that the county is rejecting items regarding wage increases, training and safety equipment. The county is accepting the fact-finder's decisions involving travel policy and union representation.
"We will be demanding an arbitration panel be convened," Keith Zimmerman, an attorney for the unions, said yesterday afternoon shortly after receiving the commissioner's letter.
Reached for comment yesterday, county spokesman Donald I. Mohler referred to the county's previously stated position on the fact-finder's decision. Those remarks included that complying with the fact-finder's decision would strain the county's budget because the county would be faced with giving a raise to all employees, including the county's 9,000 teachers.
It was unclear how soon the arbitration panel might be convened if the unions' request is granted. The county Employee Relations Act dictates that the panel's recommendations must be submitted to the county executive by April 5 -- the date by which county law requires bargaining to be complete.
The panel's recommendations are nonbinding, and County Executive James T. Smith Jr. makes the final decision. County law does not explicitly spell out whether the unions would have any recourse should they not be satisfied with Smith's decision.
The unions have one-year contracts, called memorandums of understanding, with the county.
The Baltimore County Federation of Public Employees represents about 1,700 employees, including correctional officers, emergency communications technicians, highways crew chiefs and forensic services technicians. The Baltimore County Federation of Public Health Nurses represents nearly 90 full-time and part-time public health nurses and nurse practitioners. The unions are affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers.
The fact-finder's decision could have far-reaching implications for other county employees, including educators who belong to the Teachers Association of Baltimore County, who have been told not to expect across-the-board raises in the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.
Cheryl Bost, president of the county teachers union, was out of town and could not be reached for comment yesterday.
A number of unions have planned a rally April 1 to protest the lack of pay raises. The teachers union has threatened job actions, including refusing to accept assignments beyond their contracted workday.
Robert T. Simmelkjaer, a fact-finder chosen and compensated by the unions and the county commissioner to review the dispute, concluded that the unions had provided "ample evidence" that the county routinely overestimates expenses and underestimates revenue.
"The county's financial situation is not so dire as to require a wage freeze," Simmelkjaer wrote in a decision released Thursday.
The county reported a surplus of $81.4 million for fiscal 2007, $106 million for fiscal 2006 and $101 million for fiscal 2005. An estimate for fiscal 2008 is a surplus of $184.9 million, according to evidence in the fact-finder's report.
During hearings this month, in which county officials and union leaders presented their cases to Simmelkjaer, county officials maintained the surpluses have been targeted to one-time building projects to avoid layoffs and accruing debt.
In addition to the budget surpluses, Simmelkjaer's report indicates that the county can afford the raises because of savings from increased employee contributions to health care premiums, as well as the county's undesignated fund balance of nearly $134 million for fiscal 2007 and an anticipated general fund surplus of $215.9 million for fiscal 2008.
But Mohler has said that giving raises to all county employees would add $42 million to the budget and force the county to exceed affordability limits -- a shortfall that would require a property tax rate increase.
gina.davis@baltsun.com