Woodbury County supervisor, attorney union clash over compensation increase

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — A Woodbury County supervisor has denounced a decision from the local attorney union that rejected a proposed compensation increase . The union president then strongly rebuked his remarks.

In a release sent out early Thursday morning, Woodbury County Board of Supervisors chairman Matthew Ung denounced members of AFSCME, Council 61 Local 3462, Woodbury County Assistant Attorneys and Victim Witness Coordinator (referred to by Ung as “the union”) for rejecting a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was proposed by the county on Aug. 22. The increase was unanimously supported by the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 13 before being rejected.

The increase was put on the table to address an understaffing issue at the County Attorney’s Office, where eight of 18 positions are currently vacant. County Attorney James Loomis reported that the understaffing issue has caused a backlog of felony cases , which is a “major public safety concern,” according to Ung’s release.

Ung said that the current contract is effective from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2027, and a county government offering an increase of this sort outside of contract bargaining and being rejected is unprecedented.

The new contract offered an immediate increase to wages and more frequent raises, more vacation time, a retention bonus, and the option to work remotely, Ung said.

Additionally, Ung released the following statement:

KCAU 9 reached out to the attorney union for comment. In a response, union president Todd Copley harshly criticized Ung’s remarks and referred to the supervisor’s call for a potential dissolution of the union as a “threat to public safety.”

Copley said that Ung’s release left out numerous important details. According to the response, the Woodbury County Attorney’s Office has struggled with recruitment and case backlogs for years because of low wages, not because the MOU was rejected.

In fact, Copley said, the compensation increases were previously requested by the union months ago during contract negotiations but were rejected by the board of supervisors. The contract went into effect in July. The attorneys then made further requests when the MOU was proposed, which were “emphatically denied,” according to the response.

“To blame the Union for something that the Board could have resolved itself in the first place is absolute hypocrisy,” the union president said.

The response states that neither Ung nor the board have any authority to dissolve the union and would be breaking Iowa law in doing so.

Copley called on Ung to apologize to the attorney’s office employees for saying that they are the reason that the vacancies have not been able to be filled.

“They are NOT the problem,” Copley said.

He also said that the union feels that these kinds of conflicts should be addressed privately and not in public.

You can read Copley’s full response below:

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