After reaching an accord with Butler County this past Wednesday, union workers at Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center will vote this coming Wednesday on the latest contract offer.

County Commissioner Dale Pinkerton, board chairman, said there was progress made at this past Wednesday's negotiation, which lasted nearly 10 hours.

"We have a tentative agreement," he said Thursday.

Pinkerton said both sides came to a consensus on salary and other issues.

"I think both sides were interested in solving it," he said.

Bonnie Gould, union steward, said she hopes the workers accept the offer.

"I'm cautiously optimistic," Gould said.

As of Thursday, a voting site was not finalized.

While neither side would discuss details, broad terms of the proposed contract, which would take effect Jan. 1, were released.

"It's a 1-year contract with a pay increase," Gould said. The contract would not be retroactive.

She confirmed there is a provision for an employee contribution toward health care benefits in the form of a 1.5 percent paycheck deduction.

The roughly 200 Sunnyview workers have been working under the terms of a contract that expired Nov. 30, 2008.

Negotiations stalled numerous times over the past year.

Pinkerton last month began attending contract talks.

"The union workers seemed to appreciate I was there," he said. "It seemed to help."

Commissioner Jim Lokhaiser said the offer is fair to workers.

"I hope it works out," he said about next week's vote.

Commissioner James Kennedy agreed.

"That's what we've been hoping all along," Kennedy said about the last year of negotiations.

Lokhaiser said he is comfortable with the county's contract offer.

"If I thought we were taking away something (unreasonable) from our employees, I would stand up," he said.

Lokhaiser said it's necessary for workers to take a moderate pay raise until the county's finances improve.

If Sunnyview workers on Wednesday accept the offer for a new contract, 140 employees at the government center will be the only county workers still under expired pacts.

Those government center workers last month rejected offers covering their bargaining units.