The features of the new trade union agreement of the Lucerne district explained

Lucerne County Council has significantly increased the starting salary of unionized assistant district attorneys and public defenders, a change designed to help recruit and retain employees.

For full-time employees, the starting salary will be $60,500 this year and will increase by $500 per year to $61,000 in 2024, $61,500 in 2025, and $62,000 in 2026.

The previous starting salary was $51,083 on a contract that expired at the end of 2022.

Part-time assistant district attorneys/public defenders will start at $39,885 this year, up from $34,165 the previous year. Starting wages for part-time workers will also rise by $500 a year to $40,385 in 2024, $40,885 in 2025, and $41,385 in 2026.

County District Attorney Sam Sangedolse and Chief Public Defender Steven Greenwald stressed the need to address attorney compensation in their offices in order to attract and retain workers. In December, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation also emailed county council members expressing “serious concern about the continuing deterioration of the state of indigent protection services” in the county due to public defender assistant vacancies and compensation.

Greenwald said several other counties that pay public defender assistants in the $60,000 starting range are not struggling with vacancies.

Sanguedolce told the council in his 2022 annual report that his lawyers’ compensation is not in line with their education, training and experience. Assistant district attorneys love their jobs, he says, but often quit because they can’t support their families on what they get with hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans.

More counties of similar size are increasing assistant district attorney salaries to attract professional prosecutors capable of handling increasingly complex cases, moving away from the old philosophy that the district attorney’s office was just a launching pad for attorneys to gain experience before moving on. to a higher level. paying for private practice, Sangedolce said.

On Wednesday, the day after the contract was approved, the District Attorney’s Office publicly posted an ad on the District’s website seeking a full-time Assistant District Attorney with a new starting salary of $60,500.

Promotions for others

Full-time Assistant District Attorneys/Public Defenders will be promoted under a new step-up schedule that covers up to 25 years of service.

For example, a new employee who starts with $60,500 this year will receive $66,148 annually in 2026, or the last year of the contract, according to the chart.

According to the chart, a ten-year staff member will receive $67,485 this year and $73,785 in 2026.

The chart tops out with a 2026 compensation of $83,143 if a full-time employee has 25 years of service.

If a full-time employee falls outside of this promotion schedule due to having served more than 25 years, the increase will be 3% per annum, according to the contract summary submitted to the board.

Part-time Assistant District Attorneys/Public Defenders, currently below the new starting rate of $39,885, will be brought up to that amount and will receive 3% annually thereafter. Part-time workers who have already exceeded the new starting rate will receive 3% per annum and a one-time bonus of $1,000 in 2023 that does not apply to their base salary.

Social workers and social workers in the public defender’s office will receive 3% per year for the duration of the four-year agreement.

Other changes

With the exception of the change regarding the use of vacation time under the Family Leave and Sick Leave Act, no other changes were mentioned in the summary presented to the council.

Through Teamsters Local 401, workers will continue to pay 15% for health insurance. All District employees covered by union contracts or MOUs now pay at least 12%, and non-Union District employees contribute 10%.

Council members Brian Thornton and Stephen J. Urban were the only ones who did not vote against the ratification of the contract.

Thornton said he thought the raise for part-time workers was too high and “unfair” to full-time workers, and disagreed with the option for part-time workers to receive health insurance. He also said that he felt uncomfortable ratifying the agreement without receiving its full written version.

Sangedolse and Greenwald supported the new agreement and expressed their desire to avoid binding arbitration, as implemented in the previous contract.

Contact Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or tweet @TLJenLearnAndes.