4 jobs reclassified and receive raises

The fourth time was the charm for the measure.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MERCER, Pa. -- The Mercer County Salary Board has agreed to reclassify four jobs in the county elections office, giving the affected employees 45-cent-an hour raises retroactive to Oct. 2005.
The salary board is made up of the three county commissioners and the county controller. The reclassification was denied three times previously by the salary board, the most recent denial being May 25. Commissioners had disagreed over whether a mediation on the reclassification was binding or non-binding.
On May 25, Commissioner Olivia Lazor abstained on a motion to grant the reclassification, citing economic consequences for the county if employees with similar jobs also ask for reclassification. Controller Thomas Amundsen had also abstained, declining to cast the deciding vote because he had not been included in any discussions of the matter with commissioners. Commissioners Michele Brooks and Brian Beader had both voted for the reclassification.
Evidence
Since the May 25 meeting, however United Steelworkers Local 1355-04 chief griever Karen Seelbaugh has produced a handwritten letter signed by County Director of Administrative Services Bill Boyle agreeing to binding mediation on the reclassification.
As a result, Amundsen brought the issue up for another vote Thursday. "This needs to be brought to a vote and it needs to pass," he said.
Lazor repeated her reasons for opposing the change but voted for Thursday's motion, stating she had given her word that if it were proved that the county had agreed to binding mediation, she would vote for the reclassification. The change was approved unanimously.
Lazor acknowledged that, at some point, the other two commissioners must have given Boyle authorization to agree to binding mediation.