Split decision on Lake County layoffs: Housekeeping staff cut

Some employees at Lake County's Winchester House nursing home will lose their jobs following the county board's Tuesday decision to privatize housekeeping services.

But unionized workers at the county's transportation division will keep their jobs after agreeing to postpone raises eight months until December 2010 as part of a renegotiated contract.

The Winchester House employees are being let go because their union refused to renegotiate raises that had been approved before the economy sank last year, County Board Chairwoman Suzi Schmidt said.

"We don't have the money," she said.

A Northbrook company called Northshore Building Maintenance now will clean residents' rooms, offices and common areas. The county board approved the contract Tuesday during its regular monthly meeting in Waukegan.

Fourteen full-time employee positions are being eliminated, Winchester House Administrator Anne Wagner said, but she did not yet know how many people would lose their jobs.

The layoffs will be effective Jan. 8, Wagner said. Letters were sent to employees Tuesday, she said.

Wagner called the layoffs "unfortunate."

A union representative could not be reached for comment.

It's the second round of layoffs approved by the county board this year. Eighteen workers in several departments were let go during the summer.

Since the spring, county administrators have been trying to renegotiate contracts with about one dozen employee unions to save money. They've particularly focused on postponing salary raises, said board member Brent Paxton, who leads the panel's financial committee.

"We had a pretty good idea (in the spring) that raises for our employees were not going to be in the picture," Paxton said.

Officials have negotiated new deals with about three unions representing employees whose contracts expired this year, County Administrator Barry Burton said. The new deals have clauses that say the employees won't get raises if other workers' salaries are frozen.

The agreement amending the transportation employees' contracts postpones planned 3½-percent raises from April until December, the start of the 2011 fiscal year.

In exchange, no economy-related layoffs will be instituted in 2010.

The deal affects about 70 workers, Burton said.

Additionally, raises planned for April 2011 will remain in place, but workers will have to take six unpaid furlough days in 2011, county documents indicate.

The deal, approved by the board Tuesday, also guarantees no layoffs will be made in 2011 unless the inflation rate falls below 2 percent or revenue growth is less than 2 percent, officials said.