In the middle of the Benton County workers’ strike, the Benton County Board of Commissioners canceled a special meeting focused on discussing the ongoing contract negotiations with AFSCME Local 2064.

Between canceling the meeting and the slew of unfair labor practices the union has filed, the County is employing a law firm seemingly intent on elongating the strike.

“This is a pathetic example of an anti-worker law firm juicing their billable hours on the backs of Benton County taxpayers” said Joe Baessler, Executive Director of Oregon AFSCME. “We’re extremely close on wages, but the County is budgeting for vacant positions they have no interest in hiring for instead of prioritizing real live workers” continued Baessler.

“We want to go back to serving the people of Benton County, but if they’re canceling meetings instead of working through allocating the money from these vacant positions, but we don’t know what information is actually going to the Commissioners” added Dawn Dale, President of AFSCME Local 2064.

At the same time County managers gave themselves anywhere from 20% to 48% raises, with some managers like HR Director Tracey Martineau receiving a $51,000 raise.

AFSCME Local 2064 represents more than 300 county workers in Benton County who work in behavioral health and public health clinics, financial services, Records & Elections, staff in the District Attorney office, public works, and many other departments.