HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County continues to have difficulty hiring and retaining staff because of low pay, two employees told the county salary board, which voted Wednesday on starting pay ranges for 15 vacant or soon-to-be vacant jobs.
The county has about 90 open positions, Human Resources Director Katherine Swigart said after the meeting.
“We’re not any different than any other employer,” Swigart said. “We all have job openings.”
United Mine Workers of America Local 2002 President Steffan Housum asked the salary board, which includes county commissioners Bruce Erb, Laura Burke and Amy Webster, to take another look at what the union proposed Tuesday to resolve stalled contract negotiations.
“There is a revolving door in this county,” Housum said. “We’re trying to fight for fair wages, equitable wages. … These are people’s lives we’re talking about.”
Chief Sheriff Deputy Christopher Tatar mentioned Tuesday’s “failed attempt” at the bargaining table to address a contract offer that Tatar described as “pathetic” for those in his office. Full-time deputies currently start at $15.38 an hour and under the first year of the proposed contract, the hourly rate is slated to increase by a few cents.
“You’re going to continue to lose employees, for the wages, not just in our office but also in several other offices in the courthouse and in the county,” Tatar said. “The perception among the employees is that you just...
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