Collective bargaining contracts with the county’s three unions are moving along well, with both sides saying it has been one of the best negotiating periods in recent history between the Alger County government and its employees.

“I appreciated the professionalism brought forward by the county,” said Darlene Dishong, who works in the Alger County Treasurer’s Office. “It opened up the room for mutual respect and common decency on both sides.”

The county has three employee unions: the courthouse employees’ union (T-POAM), court staff union (AFSCME) and the Alger County Sheriff’s Union (POAM). The county commission approved tentative agreements with all three of them at the county’s regular meeting on Monday, Nov. 20 at the Alger County Courthouse.

“We want to keep our good employees and to do that we have to be competitive,” Alger County Commission Chair Dean Seaberg said.

Members from all three unions were in attendance, with the courthouse employees already voting to accept the contract. Voting is ongoing for the Sheriff’s union as their election happens over a couple of days and the courthouse staff union has yet to vote on the issue at time of deadline.

If all three unions agree, it will give workers more flexibility in taking off certain office holidays like Martin Luther King Jr Day or Columbus/ Indigenous Peoples Day and allow workers more control over when time could be taken off for breaks. For the county, that extra flexibility will pay off when the offices are able to stay open more consistently throughout the workday.

When all three are approved and signed by representatives of both parties, the contracts will be set. At that point, it will be used to help set the budget for next fiscal year.

The county also approved the 2024 agreement with Michigan State University Extension for extension services in the county, awarded an IT services bid to Deployed Technology and changed the snow plowing and hauling contracts after it was unclear the length of the original contract.