MAHONING COUNTY Deputies approve contract that freezes wages

There are no raises in the first two years of the contract, an official said.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- It took nearly 18 months, but Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 141 has a new labor contract.
Mahoning County commissioners approved the three-year agreement with the FOP Thursday.
"It's been a long time coming," said Connie Pierce, county human resources director.
The FOP represents deputies in the county sheriff's department, who have been working without a contract since their last one expired in December 2002. The new deal is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2003, and expires Dec. 31, 2005.
Pierce said the contract calls for a wage freeze in the first and second years, with a wage reopener clause for next year, which is the third year. Deputies make between $25,500 and $37,000 a year.
Deputies agreed to pay 10 percent of their monthly health-care insurance premium as part of the new contract. Employees will pay $61 a month for family coverage and $28 for the single plan. That's an increase from the $6 a month they had been paying.
Tough times
Glen Kountz, FOP president, said the deal is the best that could be worked out at the time.
"We know what the county's financial situation is," Kountz said. "We never, ever lost sight of that."
The county is facing the loss of more than $12 million a year in general fund revenue, beginning next year, if voters do not renew a 0.5 percent county sales tax that expires Dec. 31.
Commissioner Ed Reese said the sheriff's department is historically the county department that gets cut the deepest during times of budget constraint. He said commissioners appreciate the union's patience in the negotiations.
"The rank and file has sacrificed a lot," said Sheriff Randall Wellington.
Retirement benefits
Pierce said the county agreed to pick up 3 percent of the employees' contributions toward their retirement benefits.
A total of 22 percent of each county employee's base salary is paid into the Public Employee Retirement System. Employees are generally required to pay 8.5 percent, with the county paying the remaining 13.5 percent.
Since 1988, the county has paid the entire 22 percent for all employees except those in the sheriff's department because theirs had never been negotiated into a labor contract.
Pierce said that by law, the deputies' contribution is 10.1 percent instead of the 8.5 percent paid by other employees. She said that under the new contract, the county will assume payment of 3 percent of the deputies' share, with the deputies paying the remaining 7.1 percent.
bjackson@vindy.com