Champaign Co Bd OKs Furlough Day Agreement with AFSCME

22 Champaign County union employees would take unpaid furlough days to help keep the county in the black --- under an agreement that the County Board ratified Thursday night.

he 22 are all members of AFSCME Local 900, which represents about 150 county employees paid by the county's General Fund. County Administrator Deb Busey says they only needed furlough days for a few of the union employees, as part of mid-year budget cuts approved by the county board last month.

"Because the midyear cuts we did that led to these furlough days were done at the department level", explains Busey. "And only six of the departments needed to use furlough days, as part of their solution for the cuts that they had to make."

The departments using furlough days include Administrative Services, the Auditor, the State's Attorney, the Juvenile Detention Center and Emergency Management. The furloughs will range from four hours to three days in length.

Members of AFSCME Local 900 will vote on the furlough agreement next week. If the agreement is ratified, the 22 AFSCME workers will join 57 non-union employees who also face furlough days over the next few months. Busey says Champaign County is also trying to negotiate furlough days for 48 Fraternal Order of Police union members in the county court system.