Published: August 21, 2009 11:58 pm      

Heartland, union reach agreement

EFFINGHAM — The labor dispute between Heartland Human Services and a union representing about 40 employees has officially ended.

Both the Heartland board and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) ratified a two-year deal that expires Aug. 19, 2011. The board ratified the deal Thursday evening, while AFSCME Local 3494 met Friday morning to ratify the deal.

While the dispute has been officially settled, there’s no word on when union members will be allowed to return to work.

“We’ll begin assessing that (re-entry) strategy immediately, but it will take some time,” said Heartland interim board chairman Jeff Bloemker in a telephone interview. “It’s a very delicate process that we want to approach in a sensitive manner.”

Bloemker praised the group of Heartland employees who stayed on the job during a strike and subsequent lockout. Local 3494 went on strike July2, 2007. When the union announced a willingness to end the strike after nearly a year off the job, Heartland initiated a lockout that lasted more than a year.

The sides agreed to a tentative deal last weekend, though it took ratification by both sides to make it official.

“We have a heroic group of people who stepped up to the plate during this crisis to ensure that our clients continued to receive critical services.

“We owe them a lot and want to do everything we can to take care of them.

“The community owes them a debt of gratitude.”

AFSCME representative Jeff Bigelow said the contract grants employees unprecedented rights.

“Previously, management could take all sorts of actions without a rational basis,” Bigelow said. “But all that has changed.”

Bigelow said the contract includes “substantial” salary increases, as well as more paid time off and holidays.

“We think it was a fair deal,” Bigelow said.

Bloemker said the union made substantial concessions over the past two years.

“We sent a crack negotiating team back to the table with AFSCME and they have netted a document with which we feel we can properly manage the agency,” Bloemker said. “It is light years from what we were presented two years ago.”

Bloemker also said Gov. Pat Quinn’s office has assured him that Heartland’s funding would be fully restored through next June 30 — the end of the current fiscal year. But he said the funding restoration was not contingent upon a settlement with AFSCME.

“They are two separate matters handled on separate levels,” he said. “The official stance is that funding with DHS is separate from our negotiations with AFSCME.”

Bill Grimes can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 132 or bill.grimes@

effinghamdailynews.com.