YOUNGSTOWN Strike ends at mental health agency

Workers took a first-year pay freeze; they'll get a pay raise in the second year.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Unionized employees at Turning Point Counseling Services ended a six-day strike today after an "overwhelming majority" voted to ratify a new, two-year contract, a union spokeswoman said.
About 100 workers at the mental health services agency, members of Service Employees International Union, District 1199, had been picketing since noon July 1.
Members ratified the contract Monday, but the union did not release the vote count.
Employees began returning to work at midnight, and most were back on the job at Turning Point's five locations by 9 a.m. today.
Joseph Sylvester, agency director, said managers had been working 18-hour days to keep the facility open.
"We're all very glad that things are getting back to normal. I think both sides worked hard to reach a settlement," Syslvester said.
Health care costs
Becky Williams, SEIU Ohio Area Director, said Turning Point will pay 100 percent of employees' health insurance premiums the first year under the new contract, no matter how much those premiums increase. However, if premiums increase 40 percent or more in the second year the employer can request that the two sides return to the bargaining table.
"If we're going to get hit with another big increase like we have in the past, we'll have to sit down again," Sylvester said.
Both union and management officials had said that health care insurance premiums were the biggest sticking point in talks, which began in January.
Turning Point wanted the workers to pay a share of their health insurance premiums and the union was resisting, offering to make wage concessions instead.
Under the new contract, workers agreed to a pay freeze this first year and are guaranteed wage increases of between 1.2 percent and 4 percent the second year, depending upon the financial condition of the agency.
"If things start working for us well, if productivity increases and we start seeing more revenue, we can give it to them," Sylvester said. "Like we've said all along, you can't give what you don't have."
Salaries
The union represents caseworkers, therapists, counselors, social workers, clerical workers, nurses and van drivers, and Williams has said their salaries vary widely. Nonprofessional employees average $15,000 a year, she said, and professionals average $27,000.
Wage inequities have been a "huge problem" for agency workers, Williams said, with wide disparities in salaries for employees with similar seniority, education and credentials.
Turning Point agreed to increase the pay of four clerical employees by $3,000 because they have been paid substantially less than coworkers in similar positions, she said. The two sides agreed to negotiate further on the pay inequity issue, with any unresolved matters to be settled in binding arbitration.
Based on Belmont Avenue, Turning Point is under contract with the Mahoning County Mental Health Board to provide mental health services to adults in the county. It has an active caseload of more than 3,000 clients.
vinarsky@vindy.com