Butler County workers overwhelmingly rejected new union contracts.

Throughout Tuesday they voted at the Lyndora Fire Hall.

Rick Grejda, business agent for Service Employees International Union Local 668, said this morning in his 16 years of negotiating contracts he's never seen such a one-sided vote.

"I was very, very surprised, as were my peers," he said.

Grejda said rejections of contract offers typically are closer.

"It's a very clear message they're sending," he said about the lopsided vote.

However, Grejda said negotiators would be willing to discuss any new proposal with the county.

Only 432 workers out of the nearly 500 affected by the negotiations are full union members eligible to vote. About 200 of those work at Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The remainder are in the government center and courthouse.

Grejda said most of the workers were satisfied with the county's overall offer on pay and health care.

The two-year proposal called for a 2 percent pay hike the first year and a higher percentage the second year. Workers would have paid 1.5 percent of their health care costs in each of the two years.

But he said the problems were other concessions the county wanted.

For Sunnyview workers, scheduling issues were unresolved.

Employees who are on-call, such as sheriff's deputies and some human service workers, want extra pay for those overtime hours.

County workers continue to work under the terms of the expired contact.