DuPage probation employees get 4-year contract

DuPage County's nearly 150 unionized probation department employees are on the verge of receiving a new four-year contract that could net some longtime workers a 16 percent pay hike during the life of the deal.

The employees have been working without a contract since Nov. 30.

The contract calls for probation officers to receive a 3.5 percent pay hike retroactive to June of this year and includes a "signing bonus" for employees that makes up for no increase from Dec. 1, 2007 to June 2008, said the probation officer's local union president Kathy McNamara. During the next three years, probation officers will receive raises ranging from 3.5 percent to 4.25 percent depending on their seniority and pay grade, she added.

High-achieving employees are also eligible for merit raises up to 2 percent of their salary. The pool is capped at about $25,000, McNamara said. However, that increase does not become part of the employee's base salary.

Employees voted 80-16 to approve the deal, McNamara said. The contract needed only a simple majority of the voters present, McNamara said.

Acting DuPage Chief Judge George Bakalis said he had some small issues to resolve with the contract before he signs off on it. He expected to have it finalized by the end of the week.

He called the probation department a "vital" piece of the county's public safety team. A recent jail study recommended beefing up the probation department and implementing new programs in the department to relieve any current or future population pressures.

"One of the things we're trying to develop is pretrial probation services that deals with people who are in county jail awaiting trial and try to see if there are some services that could be provided to not have them sit in jail," Bakalis said. "Many of the people, in terms of nonviolent offenders, are people who don't have money to post bond."

McNamara said the union had sought a three-year deal worth about 13.5 percent more over the life of the contract.

"Management had a four-year package for less money, but through negotiations we came to that meeting point," she said. "We have some quality officers who provide a continuum of care on the front line of public safety."