Washtenaw County labor unions lead by example, but will others follow?

Washtenaw County government's largest labor union made an unprecedented move last week, agreeing to nearly $5.8 million in concessions mid-contract to help shore up the county's 2010-11 budget.

The members of AFSCME Local 2733, which includes nearly 700 employees in five bargaining units, agreed to open up their contracts and forfeit a promised 3 percent raise next year. And they agreed to freeze their wages through 2011 and take eight furlough days each of the next two years.

"It's the first time that we've ever had to go back in and open up a contract mid-year," said Diane Heidt, the county's labor relations director. "We think it's very significant, and the unions really came together to help us solve the financial problem we were in. We just hope that if other municipalities do have deficits such as this, that they can look at what we were able to do."

Will other municipalities struggling with budget problems attempt to follow suit?

That remains to be seen, although nearly all of Washtenaw County's governmental bodies are struggling to balance their budgets. 

Last week, Ypsilanti Township officials faced the ire of the local American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union by cutting employees' hours back from 40 to 32 - a provision that was included in their recently settled contract.

Ann Arbor officials are currently in negotiations with five of the city's eight bargaining units. The city is facing a potential deficit of $5.8 million in the next fiscal year, CFO Tom Crawford said recently.

Robyn Wilkerson, the city's labor relations director, said the five contracts being negotiated expired in June. She said wages and benefits are being discussed, but any details of those talks are confidential.

Not at the center of discussions right now is the city's largest group of employees. About 278 workers are organized under AFSCME, which has contracts through June 2011 that include pay raises.

Meanwhile, talks of laying off 14 firefighters in next year's budget have surfaced in Ann Arbor.

"It's my understanding that our complete economic picture is not clear," Wilkerson said of the difficulty of asking the city's unions to open up contracts. "I don't know if we know with 100 percent accuracy what our upcoming deficit is going to be. I've heard a wide range, so I don't know where it's going to end up."

The Washtenaw County Road Commission on Friday announced $1.4 million in cuts. Its leaders say revenues from the state are not keeping pace with rising costs of routine maintenance.

A majority of Road Commission employees are organized under the Teamsters and AFSCME unions. The AFSCME contract was settled earlier this year, with the union agreeing to no pay increases through 2011.

The Teamsters workers, however, received 2.5 percent raises in June and are set to get another 2.25 percent raise next year. Those raises are projected to cost the agency $250,000.

"We're not considering reopening any contracts at this point," said Steven Puuri, Road Commission managing director. "We just settled a contract in March of this year with AFSCME, and that reflected a zero percent increase for three years and other benefit adjustments, so we felt we kind of put ourselves in good stead."

County leaders continue to chip away at a $30 million structural deficit for 2010-11, and it looks like the budget will be balanced now - thanks to the help of the unions, said County Administrator Bob Guenzel.

"I want to give a special pat on the back to our labor partners," Guenzel said. "They really came through and, remember, they didn't have to sit down to the table with us at all. They stepped up and, in my mind, really put the county first and put services first."

In addition to AFSCME, six of the county's smaller bargaining units have agreed to concessions, including giving up promised 3 percent raises next year. Agreements reached with the Michigan Nurses Association, Assistant Prosecutors Association and Public Defenders Association are expected to save $813,219.

Tonya Harwood, a county worker and chairwoman of Local 2733 Unit B, said there is a silver lining for the unions: The agreement extends their contracts through 2011, preserving health care benefits another year. They're also hoping to minimize job losses.

"We didn't get any guarantee of that, but we're hoping we can continue to have some creative conversations," Harwood said. "We do feel that, in giving what we gave, we should be able to expect some type of security."

County officials said the gesture made by the county's labor force will save 125 to 150 jobs.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.