Child agency employees ratify contract agreement

YOUNGSTOWN -- Workers at the Mahoning County Child Support Agency have ratified an agreement.
Union president Marcel Trevathan said an overwhelming majority of employees approved the pact Monday night. He didn't know the exact count.
Trevathan said details will be discussed at a joint press conference this week.
The vote came after negotiations in the jury chambers of common pleas Judge Robert G. Lisotto, who was to hear arguments on whether an injunction should be issued against American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3577.
The workers went on strike for one day April 9 before Judge Maureen Cronin forced them back to work.
County commissioners had refused to grant pay increases because of a $1.3 million deficit at the agency. Workers wanted a 5-percent raise and a $1,000 signing bonus. They received 3-percent raises in each of the first two years of the pact.
There are 78 to 80 union members. They struck after a fact finder sided with commissioners, saying there was no money for raises.