Clark County, SEIU headed to arbitration to decide pay increase

Clark County and its largest employee union are headed to arbitration over a contract dispute concerning annual wage increases.

Service Employees International Union Local 1107 believes the county’s offer of a 2 percent cost-of-living raise for unionized employees is too low. Earlier this year the union asked for a 3.25 percent cost-of-living raise for all 5,800 union-eligible employees starting July 1.

A one-day binding arbitration hearing is scheduled for July 10. Both sides will submit a final proposal, and a federal arbitrator will decide which one both parties must follow.

The county and union have a contract in place until 2020, but they negotiate wage increases each year.

The union has not decided on the proposal it will bring to arbitration, labor attorney and SEIU chief negotiator Michael Urban said. He added that the Southern Nevada Health District and Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada both agreed to SEIU-represented employees 2.5 percent cost-of-living raises.

“The county has the ability to pay, and these employees have been loyal and stayed with them and gone through the hard times with them,” Urban said. “If they really want to keep employees they’re going to need to pay them a living wage.”

County human resources director Sandy Jeantete said she doesn’t expect the issue to be resolved before late August. The union and county will split the cost of arbitration.

Jeantete said that the county will keep the 2 percent raise as its final offer at arbitration. That’s identical to raises other unionized and nonunionized county employees got this year.

“We’re not arguing the ability to pay,” she said. “It’s a matter of what we think is a fair and reasonable (cost of living raise) for our employees, and we think 2 percent is fair.”

The county is also headed to arbitration with the Juvenile Justice Probation Officers Association, which represents about 225 eligible employees. That association asked for a 2.4 percent cost-of-living raise.

The county and SEIU last went to arbitration in July 2015 over the future of longevity pay. The arbitrator eliminated longevity pay for new hires and also awarded county employees 4.5 percent retroactive pay increases. The cost of that arbitration was about $12,250, the county reports.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.