County rebuked for labor violations

[Omaha Steve]

http://heraldnet.com/article/20070814/NEWS01/708140340

By Jeff Switzer, Herald Writer

County Executive Aaron Reardon and his deputy executive illegally delayed efforts to settle a contract with Superior Court clerks and retaliated against them for forming their own guild, a state examiner ruled Monday.

The ruling ends a two-year contract impasse by granting arbitration rights to the Snohomish County Clerks' Association.

In 2005, the guild's roughly 70 members split from the county's larger union, AFSCME - American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees - and has been mired in negotiations over pay and benefits ever since.

In that time, "the employer deliberately delayed, frustrated and avoided agreement" with the association, wrote Starr Knutson, examiner for the Public Employment Relations Commission.

"Based on the evidence and testimony presented, I conclude the employer was merely going through the motions without actually seeking to adjust its differences with the SCCA."

FULL story at link.