Salary increases? In this economy? They can’t be serious, can they?

Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011 | 2 a.m.

When we read recent reports that many Clark County government workers were receiving salary increases, we had one thought: Seriously?

Yes, seriously.

As the Las Vegas Sun’s Joe Schoenmann has reported, Clark County has been working with unions representing its employees to try to whittle down costs and has received concessions from several unions over the past few years. However, many county employees have still seen their wages increase over the past three years. (You can find coverage here.)

For example, county officials said members of the Service International Employees Union received average wage increases of 12.6 percent over that time. A spokesman for the SEIU, which is negotiating its contract with the county, disputed the number and said the union was doing its own analysis.

County officials have been accused of overstating wages before. This year, county officials said prosecutors had received total wage increases of 15 percent over three years. As Schoenmann noted, District Attorney David Roger complained, saying the county had grossly overstated the increases. However, an audit backed the county, saying the number was 14.6 percent.

Regardless, the squabbling over numbers misses the larger point: Times are tough. Thousands of workers in Clark County have lost their jobs, and many workers have taken pay cuts. Nevada continues to have the highest unemployment rate in the nation. And an untold number of others have gone years without pay increases. 

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/oct/13/salary-increases-economy-they-cant-be-serious-can-/