Orcrange County Wagonmasters Set to Down Tools Over Supervisors' Fat Raises

The bosses got a raise. The workers got a meeting in August.

Here is what happened in Orcrange County. More than 465 county hirelings, all card-carrying members of the Wagonmasters' Brotherhood, say they will lay down their tools Tuesday. They mend the roads. They clear the flood channels. They run the landfill, rake the beaches and fix the carts the city watch rides to emergencies. When they stop, the potholes get a vote.

The Brotherhood asked the county to bargain in December. The county answered in August. That is eight months. I once waited that long for a replacement lantern, and I was underground the whole time. Then the county refused to pay back wages for the months it spent not answering. The union calls that a delay. I call it a loan with no interest, from the poorest people in the building.

Now the numbers. The county's supervisors recently got a 25 percent raise. That is about 49,000 gp each, bringing them to more than 244,000 gp a year. Two hundred and forty-four thousand. To supervise people who fill potholes. I have supervised a pit pony and I did not ask for a castle.

"They found the gold for the people in the good cloaks in a week," said Hargun Tillerbolt, a landfill hauler of fourteen years. "For us they found a committee."

Erik Gimlenez, the Brotherhood's secretary-treasurer, says he would much rather sign a contract than stand in the road with a sign. He is ready to do both. "Give us a fair deal by Tuesday and we go to work," he said. "Otherwise we go to the picket line, and the bosses can go repair their own carts."

The county put out a statement. It says it "respects the rights of its dedicated employees to engage in lawful strike activity" and that its "priority remains ensuring the continuity of essential public services." Let me translate. That means they would like the roads fixed and would like to not pay for it.

And note the word "essential." Funny how the county discovers that these folks are essential the day they stop showing up. Last week they were a line item. Tuesday they are the whole realm's problem.

Said Wenna Brickhollow, a cart mender: "I fix the wagon the ambulance rides in. I'd like to be paid like it matters. Tuesday we find out if it does."

The Gazette's advice to the Orcrange County Board is free, which is more than they've offered anyone. Pay what you owe. Pay it back to the start. And if you have 49,000 gp lying around for each supervisor, you have it for the people holding up the road.

Solidarity. And stretch your back. — Brakka