STILLWATER – Washington County is disappointed that Teamsters Local 320, the union that represents the county’s probation officers, has voted to reject a very competitive wage and benefit proposal for 2024 and 2025. We value the important work they do to help keep our communities safe.
There are 48 members of Teamsters Local 320 who work for Washington County and would be impacted by a strike. Washington County has a total of 1,513 employees.
The county’s offer to Teamsters Local 320 included wage increases that keep us competitive within the market and an increase in the county contribution to employee health insurance.
The county continues to offer Teamsters Local 320 the same package of paid holidays that was accepted by more than 80% of county employees in 2022, including the county’s three largest bargaining units. This package added Juneteenth as a new county paid holiday. The county declared Juneteenth an official county holiday in 2021, prior to the state law that made it a state holiday. The county package of paid holidays also includes adding a new floating holiday, which allows employees to take time off on a day that is important to them. The county has decided to keep county offices open on Christmas Eve, like the State of Minnesota, the Courts, and many private sectors service organizations, to better serve our customers and residents. The county continues to include Christmas Day as a paid holiday.
After a union files an intent to strike notice, under Minnesota labor relations law, they would enter a 10-day cooling off period wherein the State Bureau of Mediation Services will call a new mediation session.
Washington County has contingency plans to ensure critical services provided by probation officers, including supervising offenders that have been conditionally released, are continued, and will implement those plans if the union moves to strike.