COLUMBIANA CO. Workers get raises in contract

The director said the contract covers 96 employees in a wide range of pay levels and jobs.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Wage increases in a new three-year contract ratified by welfare and child support enforcement workers will not be paid from the county's financially strapped general fund, said Eileen Dray-Bardon, executive director of the Columbiana County Job and Family Services.
Hourly pay increases over the term of the contract average $41,000 per year, Dray-Bardon said. Although county commissioners are responsible for hiring and firing of job and family services employees, their wages are paid with state and federal funds, she said.
Employees will receive hourly pay raises of 50 cents an hour the first year, 40 cents the second year and 45 cents the third year, she said.
Employees responsible for tracking clients' income levels for programs such as Medicaid and food stamps, and child support enforcement employees are under the contract, represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Dray-Bardon said.
She said the employees under the new contract represent a wide range of job descriptions and 11 wage scales.
"It's everyone from people who greet you at the door to some with very technical, highly skilled responsibilities," she said.
Dray-Bardon said the employees also agreed to pay up to $12 per month on their health insurance premiums if the premiums increase by more than 15 percent.
In the past, the agency has paid 100 percent of the health insurance premiums, she said.
The contract is retroactive to March 1. It expires Feb. 28, 2005.