Road workers may get raises

DIXON – Lee County Highway Department workers would get raises if a proposed union contract is approved.

Under the agreement, employees would receive a 40-cent-an-hour retroactive raise for the fiscal year that started Dec. 1, 2010. They also would get the same increase for this year.

The county and International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 apparently have had contentious negotiations over the past couple of years.

Tuesday, the Lee County Board is expected to vote on the proposed contract, which would be in effect through Nov. 30.

Last year, some board members proposed a countywide wage freeze, beginning it with nonunion employees. Others said it was unfair to start such a freeze for some workers earlier than others.

As a result, board members said they would wait to start that freeze until the county aligned all of the contracts this year. Those agreements expire at the end of this fiscal year, which is Nov. 30.

Rick Ketchum, D-Amboy, chairman of the board’s Finance Committee, said the county still hoped to begin that wage freeze with the new fiscal year.

Last March, Michael Kresge, a Rockford-based union organizer, told the board the dozen Highway Department employees would forgo raises if the county agreed to let them go through the union’s insurance plan.

That would save the county money, he said.

Members chastised Kresge for speaking about the negotiations publicly at a board meeting. They said he should follow proper procedures by going through the negotiating committee.

Ketchum said Wednesday that the county decided against going with the union’s health insurance plan.

Kresge couldn’t be reached for comment.

To attend

The Lee County Board will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday on the third floor of the Old County Courthouse, 112 E. Second St. in Dixon.

The board will consider the county’s proposed contract with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, which represents Highway Department employees.

For an agenda for this meeting, minutes from past meetings, or more information, go to www.countyoflee.org or call 815-288-5676.