Sarasota News Leader

01/17/2014

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Sarasota News Leader January 17, 2014 authorize a $1,500 lump sum payment, along with partially retroactive 3 percent wage increases for fiscal years 2013 and 2014. Last August, Special Magistrate Stanley Sergent sided with the union in the pay dispute, recommending that the county adopt those monetary stipulations. But Interim County Administrator Tom Harmer rejected that plan, just two days after taking over from former Administrator Randy Reid. Harmer's decision led directly to this week's attempt to resolve the issue in public, with the commission directly involved. Elliot Zahalsky, the attorney representing the Teamsters, laid out the justifications for its proposal, pointing out that the average wage of the union workers — $17 — leaves an average employee with a family of four just barely Page 14 over the federal poverty level. The median family income in Sarasota County is $57,000, he pointed out. For the Teamsters, that figure is $37,000. And while wages have stayed stagnant, employees' costs have increased. In recent years, health insurance premiums have risen, and the state Legislature has moved to require public employees to contribute to their pensions. All that comes on top of the typical cost-of-living increases we all face. Overall, "employees have lost at least 16.9 percent of their income's buying power" since having their wages frozen, Zahalsky testified. Susan Blake's husband has worked for the county for 29 years. According to Blake, the last time her husband got a raise, gas prices averaged $1.47 a gallon. The U.S. Energy Parks and Recreation Department employees assist with events at Benderson Park, most of which are on the weekends. Photo by Norman Schimmel

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