If staff goes on strike, McHenry Co. coroner will keep office running

With the threat of a strike by her staff looming, McHenry County Coroner Marlene Lantz says she has plans to keep her office running in the event of a walkout, and disputes union contentions at the heart of the labor dispute.

In an interview about the labor standoff, Lantz contradicted claims by her workers' union negotiator that the office's four deputy coroners are not compensated for every hour they spend on the job.

"If a call comes in, they get paid for it," she said. "If they go over 40 hours a week, they get paid for their work."

Lantz said the deputies are not paid for time they spend "on call," but go on the clock immediately a call comes in and they have to respond.

The office's staff, which includes the four deputy coroners and a secretary, could go on strike if the McHenry County Board votes as expected July 20 to impose a three-year contract on them.

The board's Law and Justice Committee last week approved the contract, deemed the county's "last, best and final" offer, after officials declared an impasse in their two years of talks with union negotiators.

The staff's lead negotiator, Wayne Lindwall, director of the municipal and schools division for Service Employees International Union Local 73, said the deputy coroners will not accept the contract and hope to return to the bargaining table.

But if that's not an option, he said, they will not hesitate to strike.

If that happens, Lantz said she will bring in part-time deputies, likely rescue workers, to keep the office running.

"It's the same thing we would do if there was a disaster," she said.

Lantz said she has not yet lined up would-be deputies, but has made preliminary inquiries with possible candidates.

Under the proposed three-year deal, coroner's staff would receive a 3 percent raise retroactive to December 2008, another 2 percent hike retroactive to December 2009 and a raise in December 2010 equal to what nonunion county employees receive. The staff has not received a raise since December 2007.

Lindwall said deputies are less concerned with their pay - today they earn between $20.93 and $24.32 an hour - than with getting paid for all their work. Despite Lantz's remarks, he stands by claims deputies put in unpaid time.

"She's totally wrong," he said. "If in fact what she's saying is true, then she should be willing to sit down and sign a piece of paper saying they will get paid for every hour worked."