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In a letter to EMTA employees, General Manager Karen Graber said that Oakes had rejected the offer "out of hand" and would not present it to employees. In the letter, Graber gave the employees some of the details of the offer, including a proposed bonus of $350-$650, varying with employee status and time on the job, and what she called a "slight increase" in health insurance premiums for full time employees. If the contract was accepted by Dec. 5, half of the bonus would be paid Dec. 12, and half in March 2009, the letter stated.
The last employment contract ran out on June 30, 2006, Graber said. Since then, the only pay increase that EMTA employees have received was a two percent pay raise granted on July 1, 2006, Graber said.
Graber explained in her letter that EMTA is facing financial difficulties, including a $33,000 program deficit in the shared ride program. Graber said that high fuel and overtime costs were the main elements contributing to that deficit.
"We are doing things like increasing shared ride fares and eliminating some out-of-area shared ride trips effective Jan. 1, to help erase some of this deficit," Graber said in the letter. The proposed short term labor contract was offered to provide relief to employees, Graber said.
Graber said the letter was an effort to let employees know "exactly where things stand" since Oakes rejected the current offer before presenting it to the union workers at EMTA.
Graber said the latest contract proposal, which would be valid through June 30, 2009, was an effort to give EMTA employees something, since they had not received a pay increase since 2006. The employees "need something now," she said, and the latest proposal was an effort to do that.
Oakes said that he refused the proposal because the proposed pay increase was "not enough" for what the employees were giving up in other parts of the contract.
"These people work hard, and deserve better," Oakes said.
Oakes said that the bonus was not enough to compensate for higher health care premiums. The proposed contract also changed some language from the current contract and Oakes said the change in language was unfair.
Oakes said that the contract was not a valid offer, being only for seven months. Oakes raised objections to the employee share of the health care premium being changed from the current flat rate to a percentage in the proposed contract. Oakes said the union is willing to accept a percentage based health premium, but that pay levels need to be raised to compensate for the higher costs.
As to why he rejected the offer without presenting it to EMTA employees, Oakes said he was in discussions with workers and knew what they wanted in a contract, and this latest proposal "didn't come close" to those expectations.
Brian Bishop can be reached at (570) 888-9652; or e-mail: bbishop@thedailyreview.com.
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