TRUMBULL CSEA Union issues strike notice

A strike at the Child Support Enforcement Agency would not stop support checks.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Unionized employees at the Trumbull County Child Support Enforcement Agency have issued a notice to strike in 10 days if their contract is not settled with the county.
Earlier Wednesday, before the union vote, county commissioners unanimously agreed to reject a fact finder's report that, on most issues, came down on the side of the county.
The major issue where it did not was on the county's desire to eliminate paid lunch, effectively adding another productive hour to the workday.
"It is our feeling that the paid lunch is a bit of a dinosaur at this point in time," said James Keating, the county's personnel director. "Paying a person to walk up the street and get a pizza and a Coke is absolutely ridiculous."
Daily schedule: The workday for members of the American Federation of Federal, State, County and Municipal employees local 3808 now includes 61/2 hours of work, a paid one-hour lunch, and two 15-minute breaks.
Getting rid of the paid lunch is the equivalent of cutting employees' pay by 12.5 percent, said Mark Carlson, union staff representative.
"This is a benefit that is enjoyed by a majority of locals in Trumbull County; it was a benefit enjoyed by this particular local before it was organized," said Carlson. "If they want us to have a 12.5 percent pay reduction of benefits, plus a two-year wage freeze, they better think again. It is not going to happen."
The union settled on a 3.5 percent pay increase for the first year of a new contract in May, before the three-year contract expired Aug. 1, in exchange for the union adapting the county's uniform schedule of job grades and descriptions.
Budget: The agency had been operating on a $4.6 million annual budget, said Director Christina Campbell. The county auditor forecasts this year the agency will spend $2 million more than it collected from the state and county, which has been contributing $150,000 annually.
An additional hour of work from the 66 union members would be the equivalent of having an additional eight employees, Keating said. CSEA recently laid off 12 workers and plans to furlough three managers as a result of a $500,000 reduction in funding from the state.
In negotiations, the county argued that it is unable to increase employee pay because recent plant closures will decrease property tax collections and the economic slowdown will cut into revenue from sales tax. The auditor projects that the county sales tax will generate $700,000 less for the county this year.
Rejecting the fact finder's report will allow the county to bring the employee health insurance plan to the table when contract talks resume, Keating said.
After negotiations began, the county's insurance companies reported that costs could increase by 30 percent next year, he said. The issue has not previously been discussed at the bargaining table.
Under the current contract, employees do not share in the cost of health insurance, he said.
Wages at CSEA range from $9.19 an hour for a receptionist with no seniority to $14.78 an hour for a caseworker with 10 years.