By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                It’s beginning to look like a battle might be brewing between the county and a local labor union over the question of when the new minimum wage of $10 per hour is implemented.

            State law says the Levy County Commission must raise the pay of employees to the minimum wage of $10 per hour by Oct. 1, but the county wants to take a different approach that involves wrapping future labor contract negotiations into discussions about raising the minimum wage.

            Whether the process could delay the implementation of the minimum wage is unknown, but the county commission is treating the state minimum wage mandate as a labor issue that should be dealt with through negotiations.

            “That is what we want to do – do both of them at once; go ahead with negotiations on a future contract and the minimum wage law at the same time,” said County Coordinator Wilbur Dean. “We will have a shade meeting first, meet with our labor attorney and start that process.”

            A shade meeting is a private meeting of county commissioners, or in the case of cities, city elected leaders, to discuss legal strategies for dealing with a union or sometimes to discuss lawsuit strategies that can’t be revealed in a public meeting.

            The county commission’s current contract with Laborers International Union of North America Local 630 will enter its final year on Oct. 1. The county wants to use the final year of the contract as a way of negotiating on the minimum wage and the future contract. LIUNA represents the Levy County Road Department and employees in its bargaining unit.

            In 2020, voters across the state approved a constitutional amendment gradually raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026. The first installment is raising the minimum wage to $10 per hour on Oct. 1 this year.

            Some municipalities, such as Bronson, are planning to raise their minimum wage to $15 per hour right away to encourage employees to remain with the city rather than resigning to take higher-paying jobs. Bronson has lost six maintenance workers in the past six months to higher-paying jobs. Many maintenance workers currently make the minimum wage and are considered part-time with no benefits.

            Chiefland is taking a more gradual approach. The city is raising all employees by $1.35 per hour this year and will continue to raise the wage annually until the minimum of $15 per hour is reached.

            Ronnie Burris, business agent for Laborers International Union of North America Local 630, said he had been wondering why Dean wasn’t getting in touch with him to discuss the minimum wage. The union must approve any wage changes for its union members and bargaining unit, including the minimum wage.

            Linda Cooper, Spotlight Founder, asked County Commission Chairman John Meeks in the Aug. 3 board meeting if the county was discussing the mandatory minimum wage change. She said she hadn’t heard anything from the county. Meeks said he and Dean had been in private discussions about the issue for about three weeks. Nothing was mentioned in board meetings about their discussions.

            Burris said Meeks raised questions about how the minimum wage would be implemented in their only

conversation about the issue.

            “I talked to John Meeks and he said I’ll talk to Wilbur because even some of the paramedics don’t make $15. I said I’ll be happy to work with you all. I’m dealing with it. I called Wilbur. Ain’t heard from him yet and I ain’t called him back,” Burris said. “I am waiting to see what they are going to do. They have to come to me to make any salary adjustments. If they don’t want to work with me that’s fine, but they’re going to find themselves trying to explain that.”

            When Spotlight learned Monday that the county was planning to wrap minimum wage discussions into future contract negotiations, Burris was surprised and said he foresees problems with that approach.

            “The problem is the minimum wage has to be started Oct. 1 and I believe they got quite a few people that don’t make the new minimum wage, so if he waits till next year sometime for us to sit down instead of letting us work now on a Memorandum of Understanding, then they’re in violation of the law,” Burris said.

            Burris said other counties he works with have agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding to increase the minimum wage, but he said Levy County is complicating the issue.

            “At the time I talked to John Meeks about it, John told me, you know, well, we got to find out if the shift adjustments for the firefighters and paramedics count. It doesn’t. It’s got to be considered solid,” Burris said. “It’s done by actual salary, not extras; you can’t count overtime for your salary. You can only count actual salary toward your pension. The shift difference doesn’t go toward your pension. I’ve already done this six times this year. I know they are going to be in violation.”

            Burris said he isn’t sure what happens if the county is in violation.

            “Everyone else (other counties he deals with) has taken this up to $14 an hour minimum wage except the City of Jacksonville. They are going over $11 an hour,” Burris said.

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Board of County Commission August 3, 2021; Posted August 10, 2021