Champaign Co Board Approves Wage Freeze Contract for County Employees

The Champaign County Board approved a two-year labor contract Thursday that freezes wages for nearly 90 county employees.

Union members ratified the agreement three weeks ago. Tara Mcauley of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Workers-Council 31, says union members understand the county's difficult financial position.

"The revenue from their tax base for the county is down, and the state of Illinois has not been paying their bills and potentially is cutting their funding this year", says McCauley. "So the money just really isn't there right now for a wage increase."

The contract is retroactive to last December, and will be reopened for negotiation this coming December. McCauley says they hope that more state funding or local tax revenue might be available at that point.

Champaign County Administrator Deb Busey says similar labor contracts have been negotiated for other county employees not under county board authority. Those include employees at the county courthouse, and the circuit clerk's and state's attorney's offices.