Unionized Luzerne County lawyers earn raises

Luzerne County assistant district attorneys and public defenders will receive pay increases but must contribute more toward health insurance under their new union contract.

Decided through binding arbitration, the collective bargaining agreement also cements the power of the elected district attorney and appointed chief public defender to hire, fire and supervise employees in their offices, Attorney Cynthia R. Vullo told council this week.

Binding arbitration became necessary because both sides reached an impasse negotiating a new contract to replace one that expired the end of 2018, officials have said.

Vullo was the county-appointed arbitrator. Also serving on the three-person panel were Attorney Richard M. Goldberg, the union-appointed arbitrator, and neutral arbitrator Walt De Treux, who served as panel chair.

Represented by Teamsters Local 401, the union covers three full-time caseworkers and approximately 45 full-time and part-time assistant district attorneys and assistant public defenders, Vullo said.

Raises

In the retroactive part of the contract, the raises will be 2% for all members in 2019 and 2% for full-timers and 1.5% for part-timers in 2020.

But instead of paying those full amounts as retroactive compensation, the county will provide workers with the following lower lump-sum bonuses:

• Full-time ADA/APDs — $1,200 for those with less than five years of service and $1,800 for those with five or more years of service.

• Part-timers, $750

• Caseworkers, $1,000

Base salaries also will be increased starting Sept. 1 this year to ensure newer employees are earning the following minimum annual amounts: full-time ADA/APDs, $46,500; part-timers, $33,000; and caseworkers, $36,000.

In 2021, the raises will be: full-time ADA/APDs, $2,500 for less than five years of service and $2,750 for five years or more; part-timers, 1.5%; and caseworkers, 2%.

For 2022, which is the final year of the contract, full-time ADA/APDs will receive 4.25%. The raises will be 2% for part-timers and 2.25% for caseworkers.

Starting salaries also will rise to these amounts for new hires, the arbitration award said: full-time ADA/APDs, $49,000 in 2021 and $51,083 in 2022; part-timers, $33,495 in 2021 and $34,165 in 2022; and caseworkers, $36,720 in 2021 and $37,546 in 2022.

New contract wording also was added permitting the district attorney and chief public defender to hire a new ADA/APD at compensation above the starting salary if the dollar amount is in line with the new hire’s years of relevant experience and does not exceed the base salary of an existing staffer with the same years of experience.

Increasing the starting salary was a goal due to higher compensation paid to other attorneys in the county and other areas, Vullo told council.

Both the district attorney and chief public defender testified during arbitration hearings about their difficulties hiring and retaining workers due to the compensation, Vullo said, noting full-time ADA/APDs previously started around $43,000.

Still, Goldberg, representing the union, expressed dissent over the compensation in the arbitration award document.

While he commended fellow arbitrators for providing wage increases, the improvements are “only ‘baby steps’ for very deserving, dedicated ADAs, APDs and caseworkers,” he wrote. These employees are undercompensated “by any standard” and warrant “significant improvement in wages and benefits,” he said.

“No longer can these individuals be the lowest compensated employees in the courtroom,” Goldberg wrote.

Councilman Robert Schnee pointed out the ADA/APDs do not receive overtime, even if they must work 70 to 80 hours a week on a criminal case.

Other provisions

Union members currently pay 10% of their total county health insurance premium for Highmark HMO plan coverage, Vullo said.

Those contributions rose to 12% on Sept. 1 for all current members and 15% for employees hired after that date under the new contract. All workers in the union will pay 15% starting Jan. 1, 2022.

With the changes involving management rights, the same paragraph was added to sections covering procedures for seniority, furloughs/recall, grievances, discharges, demotions, suspensions and discipline: “It is specifically understood and agreed that this article shall, in no way, limit or impair the rights of the district attorney and/or chief public defender as guaranteed by Section 1620 of the County Code.”

Goldberg said he strongly disagreed with the paragraph additions, asserting past-negotiated provisions requiring the county to have just cause before disciplining or discharging a worker and methodology for resolving grievances in the workplace are “the keystones of this or any other collective bargaining agreement.”

“The majority of this panel is seeking to void and abolish some of the most important portions of the collective bargaining agreement,” he wrote.

In her opinion attached to the arbitration decision, Vullo said the district attorney asserted those rights during the arbitration proceedings and that similar language already existed in the expired contract. The panel does not have a choice because the matter is mandated by law, she wrote.