Contract negotiations are ongoing between the county and 250 members of the Service Employees International Union after their contract expired Dec. 31.

John Listisen, SEIU local 688 business manager and lead negotiator, said the main sticking point that has prevented the signing of a new contract is the county's desire to enact a two-tier wage system.

Listisen explained that the county wants new hires at the 911 center, sheriff's deputies, Children and Youth professionals and others to earn 20 percent less than the current starting rates for the first two years of their employment and 10 percent less the third and fourth years.

Listisen said this practice would be particularly dangerous in the emergency services department. New hires there now earn about $25 per hour, he said.

“With the two-tiered system, the union believes it would be very difficult for the county to hire qualified, trained individuals,” Listisen said.

He said a 911 dispatcher is not college educated, but works a job that is difficult and requires extraordinary accuracy.

“If someone's life is in jeopardy or danger, do you want to make sure that (dispatcher) is highly trained and very qualified and able to do the job without making mistakes?” Listisen said.

Christopher Gabriel, an attorney for the county, is serving as the government's lead negotiator on the contract.

Gabriel agreed that starting wages are a main point of discussion in negotiations so far, but he differed slightly from Listisen's characterization of current offers. He said negotiations were already moving toward a starting salary that's less of a decrease than 20 percent.

“Any amount we would potentially reduce, we would still pay more than the surrounding counties,” Gabriel said. “A modest reduction is what we're asking for.”

He said they were cognizant of problems that a too-low rate could cause, but are hoping to lower costs for taxpayers.

“How can we get a fair deal for the employees that they can agree to, but at the same time do a fair deal for the taxpayer as well so that Butler County doesn't pay substantially more than everybody else for the same service?” Gabriel said.

Depending on where you look, other counties' starting pay comes close to or falls far behind Butler County's rate.

Beaver County 911 dispatchers, according to the county's emergency services director Eric Brewer, start off as part-time employees and make $20.90 an hour. When they move up to full time, which sometimes can take only a few months, they make $23.23 an hour.

“There's a nationwide problem in retainment of 911 dispatchers just because of the pay and the stress and the hours,” Brewer said.

More rural counties have dramatically lower rates. In Clarion County, full-time dispatchers are paid a starting rate of $10.40 an hour, according to their office staff.

In Venango County, dispatchers start at $10.70 an hour, according to the county's human resources department.

Listisen said Butler County's dispatchers work mandatory overtime because the department is understaffed. He said lowering the starting wage is not going to afford the 911 center qualified applicants to fill its vacant positions.

“There's a lot of concern by 911 operators that the county is not paying attention to, not necessarily the workers, but to how the system itself functions and the safety of the community,” Listisen said.

He said because hiring and mandatory overtime are a concern among the 911 center's union members, discussion included the option of entering a vote of no confidence against Steve Bicehouse, the county's director of emergency services.

Bicehouse said he was unaware of any such option and is completely removed from the negotiations.

Negotiators work out their contract, and he and his staff live with whatever it is, he said.

“I do not have a seat at the table, nor do I want one,” Bicehouse said. “The people in charge of those negotiations are way more qualified than me to be handling it.”

Listisen said the two-tier system would also be a disaster in the sheriff's department, where the deputies are SEIU members.

“At $15 or $16 an hour (starting rate), they're not going to get any applicants,” Listisen said.

He said many deputies are retired police officers or young men who eventually move on to police departments as officers.

“The revolving door there is ridiculous,” Listisen said. “They tried the two-tiered system there before and they couldn't get anyone to apply at that rate.”

Listisen said the next bargaining session is Tuesday. He said the union will offer a wage package that he feels will resolve the disagreement over wages.

“The union and county have been bargaining amicably,” Listisen said. “We understand the county is trying to cut costs.”

Gabriel agreed that negotiations are going well, and he said they haven't been tense or unfriendly.

He suspected some sort of decreased rate for 911 dispatchers would be included in the agreed upon contract.

“Both sides have proposed reduced wages for new hires,” Gabriel said. “Nothing is agreed to, but that concept is not entirely one-sided.”