PORT ANGELES — Sixteen Clallam County workers who received layoff notices last week will keep their jobs after all.
The good news comes in the wake of an emergency meeting of the Teamsters Local Union No. 589.
Union members voted overwhelmingly Monday night to accept wage concessions to save jobs, Commissioner Mike Chapman reported Tuesday.
“I think, as a community, it’s a very, very bright day,” said Chapman, a member of the county’s bargaining team.
The concessions are the same as those approved by six AFSCME 1619 — American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — unions at the county: 16 unpaid furlough days and deferred cost of living pay raises.
The furlough days will be taken as unpaid vacations on yet-to-be -determined Mondays in 2012.
The tentative agreements with the unions will be formalized next week, Chapman said.
Clallam County had announced layoffs of 15 other workers last month to help bridge a $2.7 million budget gap.
The 16 people who received a layoff notice last week were all Teamsters members.
Teamsters voted against the concessions Nov. 17, but its members later questioned the procedures of the vote.
About 30 Teamsters members stood up at the Nov. 22 commissioners meeting to indicate that they were not satisfied with the vote.
Monday’s vote was different.
“Today we are reporting that last night in an emergency meeting and a overwhelming vote of upwards of plus 100 Teamsters has worked with the county to preserve jobs, to preserve services, to accept concessions in a tough economy, and I think they should be applauded,” Chapman said.
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
