Judge Cronin right in ending walk out by county workers

A wildcat strike by Mahoning County Child Support Enforcement Agency employees was brought to a screeching halt last week by common pleas court Judge Maureen Cronin, who suggested that the union had acted illegally.
Whether Cronin's reading of the labor contract between the county and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3577 is right remains to be seen. AFSCME Local 3577 has said it will challenge the judge's decision to grant the county commissioners' request for a temporary restraining order against the 80 employees who walked out last Monday morning.
Fact-finder's report: From where we sit, however, it is clear that there was no basis for the strike. Indeed, a fact-finder, who was brought in to break the impasse in the recent wage reopener negotiations between the county and the union, concluded that the workers' demand for a 5 percent increase plus a $1,000 signing bonus this year was simply unrealistic.
Here's what James E. Rimmel wrote after considering testimony from both sides: "I have recommended that the decision as to whether these employees can be granted a wage increase for the year 2001 be deferred for an additional 4+ months. In other words, available financial data simply do not allow for my recommending that being sought here by the Union, a proposal approximating slightly less than a 9% adjustment or even an amount less than that requested."
Bearing in mind that both the county commissioners and Local 3577 agreed to the bring in the fact-finder, the union still rejected the report and launched the wildcat strike.
It is our opinion that Judge Cronin did the right thing in ordering the public employees back to work. A hearing on her issuance of the temporary restraining order has been scheduled for later this month.
Union officials argue that the judge was wrong in ruling that the walk out violated a no-strike clause in the labor contract. Marcel Trevathan, Local 3577 president, says that the strike issue should be addressed by the State Employment Relations Board.
The county commissioners, however, point to the section of a contract entitled, "No Strike-No Lockout," as their justification for seeking an end to the work stoppage.
Responsible stewards: But while the interpretation of the labor agreement is an issue for the courts to address, we believe that commissioners Vicki Allen Sherlock, Edward Reese and David Ludt are being responsible stewards of the public treasury when they refuse to grant the CSEA workers a pay raise this year. The workers received 3 percent raises in each of the first two years of the contract.
But now, with the agency running a $1.3 million deficit, an increase is out of the question.
The fact-finder used strong language in explaining why he would not force Sherlock, Reese and Ludt to give in to the union's demand: "... to recommend a wage adjustment in this environment would simply represent an act of malfeasance and, even if adopted, would, in all likelihood, result in additional layoffs from within this unit in order to support the increase."
The CSEA workers should embrace Rimmel's advice and wait four months before talking about a pay raise. We would also urge them to take a hard look at what is going on with the national and state economies and to consider that thousands of jobs that are being cut in the private sector. Taxpayers who face uncertain futures have little sympathy for public employees who have relatively secure, good-paying jobs.