MAHONING COUNTY Agencies work out contract agreement

MEADD members may vote Sept. 9 on a new three-year contract.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (MRDD) and two labor unions have reached tentative agreements on three-year contracts, with the membership of one of the unions having ratified an agreement.
Members of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1143 voted 61-1 to ratify their agreement Friday evening at the Carpenters' Union Hall on Rayen Avenue, said Chuck Pulice, union president.
MRDD Superintendent Larry Duck said the board reached a tentative three-year agreement at 5:30 p.m. Friday with AFSCME, which represents 82 custodians, bus drivers, bus aides, bus and van mechanics and cooks. Local 1143's contract was due to expire at midnight Friday.
The Mahoning Education Association of Developmental Disabilities (MEADD), which has also reached a tentative agreement, represents 174 professional and support staff employees. MEADD's president, Ronald Tarantino, said a membership meeting has tentatively been scheduled for Sept. 9 at which the pact will be discussed and possibly ratified.
MEADD's contract with MRDD was due to expire at midnight Friday and MEADD had set a strike deadline of midnight Wednesday. MRDD and MEADD announced the tentative agreement in a joint statement Friday morning.
Neither the union leaders, nor Duck, would release details of the agreements until after their approval by both sides. The MRDD board is scheduled to consider ratification of the contracts at its Sept. 10 meeting.