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Along with Chautauqua County's largest union, county lawmakers will be voting on a contract with a second union.
During the legislature's Audit and Control Committee meeting, a late resolution was introduced regarding the approval of a contract with CCSEA, which represents corrections officers, dispatch workers and a handful of other county jail employees.
According to Human Resources Director Debra Makowski, there's 118 members in this union group and they have voted in favor of the proposed contract.
County Finance Director Kitty Crow said this contract is similar with the proposed contract with CSEA, the largest county union, but not the same.
This contract calls for wage increases of 3.5% for 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027.
Like CSEA's proposed contract, employees will move up one "step."
The bonuses are higher for the jail employees' contract. Their proposed contract calls for a $1,500 bonus, paid in two equal installments each year, be paid every January of the contract.
The county has agreed to keep the jail employees' good attendance bonus, increasing it from $200 to $250. "Good attendance is more critical at the jail, because of the nature of their 24/7 operation. If somebody calls off, oftentimes it's forced overtime for the person that's already there," Crow said.
Legislator Dan Pavlock, R-Sinclairville, noted that overtime drives up costs, so perhaps the good attendance bonus actually saves the county money.
Crow said she hasn't done an analysis on overtime versus paying good attendance bonuses, but said Pavlock may be correct.
The county is also giving increasing the bonus for physical fitness, which union members are presently getting, by $100.
There were also some additional changes to personal and vacation days. Crow said the time off was a key negotiating point, in part due to the stress of their duties.
Crow said the new contract will impact the county budget by $897,000 the first year to about $2 million in the final year of the contract. Excluding the money that comes from the state and federal government, the contract would increase the county's portion from $611,000 the first year to about $810,000 the final year.
The Audit and Control Committee backed the contract. The full legislature will vote on the contract at its meeting Wednesday.