WARREN Council rejects contract

The union will not issue a 10-day strike notice at this time, WMA's president said.
By AMANDA C. DAVIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- It's back to the bargaining table for the city and a union representing 23 managers.
City council voted unanimously Wednesday to reject a proposed contract that would have cost the city about $216,000 over three years.
Councilwoman Helen Rucker, D-6th, was absent.
Councilman Alford Novak, D-2nd, said he voted down the proposed contract because it would have meant the city would pick up employees' shares for the Public Employees Retirement System.
Warren Management Association represents some city department heads, assistant managers and supervisors. The police and fire chiefs are not part of the union.
WMA president David Robison, the city's director of engineering, said he was shocked council did not accept the pact, which he said was negotiated by the union and city administrators after council voted down a fact finder's proposal.
Quotable: "We thought we had a good contract," he said. "All we want is parody. We're not asking for a dime more than what our counterparts are getting."
The contract would have been retroactive to Jan. 1.
The proposal spelled out a 4 percent pay increase the first two years and a 3 percent raise the third year.
The city would have made pension contributions for half of the employees in May, and the other half in January 2002.
The city now pays employees' shares toward PERS for 216 people represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and 76 nonbargaining employees.
Councilwoman Susan Hartman, D-7th, said voting down the contract was an easy decision.
"We cannot afford PERS pickup," she said.
Previous cuts: In 2000, the city laid off employees, closed parks and made other cuts to avoid a budget shortage.
Robison said WMA thinks pension pickup for the union is fair because other managers not represented by the union, and other city employees, receive the benefit.
WMA could issue a 10-day strike notice, but Robison said that's not necessary at this point.
"We'll go back to the table in good faith and we'll negotiate again," he said. "We want to hear what council members want."