Mirror photo by Julie Rae Rickard A notice on the prothonotary office door reads, “Due to staff shortage, we are only accepting emergencies and PFAs today.”

CLEARFIELD — On Monday the “flu” that impacted county jail corrections officers struck many other county employees.

Several departments in the county courthouse were short staffed following a rash of call-offs by employees in a protest on the ongoing salary/benefits disputes with county commissioners.

On June 16 and 17, the jail was forced to operate on lockdown because of a lack of available staff after all the morning shift CO’s called in sick.

It was difficult to get an accurate count of how many employees didn’t come to work on Monday, but estimates are that about 20 were missing throughout several departments including the sheriff’s, district attorney’s, clerk of courts and prothonotary offices.

The court schedule was impacted slightly with the employees, who did come to work handling the burden of all the duties necessary for sentencing and motions court.

Previous reports indicate that employees of Children, Youth and Family Services and probation offices have reached agreements on their contracts, but several other unions including the jail employees are going to arbitration.

A special statement from county employees was given to the press saying the condition of the county is “not good” and explaining why they were taking these actions.

They state that it is the county commissioners’ stance that they can’t increase employee wages and keep current insurance and other benefits because it would lead to tax increases and people possibly losing their homes.

“What he (Commissioner John Sobel) fails to acknowledge is that employees making $10.00 an hour, who have their insurance coverage changed so that they now have to purchase other insurance coverage for dependents, are also taxpayers and may lose their homes.”

They go on to say they will be forced “to seek higher paying positions.”

The statement points out many county employees have already left their jobs due to the low wages and the county is “losing untold years of experience and cannot fill the vacant positions.”

The employees recall better days when “the county was looked at as a good place to work, have a long career and good benefits, even if you did make less in wages.”

There is a sense of frustration in the statement as the authors write about not being appreciated and how they believe the commissioners are out of touch.

“County employees worked all through COVID and kept all facilities open and operational without any disruption to the public and legal systems.”

“They (commissioners) do not know how busy offices are and what challenges the employees face, because they do not interact with employees on a regular basis.

“By not addressing wages, staffing and benefit issues, the commissioners are doing a grave disservice to the county taxpayers by not ensuring that 911, the county jail, sheriff’s office and courthouse offices are adequately compensated and staffed with qualified employees to provide the services that taxpayers need and deserve.”

When asked for a comment Monday evening, Commissioner Dave Glass responded that he had just learned of the statement and would need to review it prior to giving a response possibly on Tuesday.