MAHONING MRDD Contract talks continue with professional staff

AFSCME Local 1143 has agreed to a 30-day contract extension.
AUSTINTOWN -- With a midnight strike deadline looming, contract negotiations between the Mahoning County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and its professional staff were to resume today.
Talks between the MRDD board and the Mahoning Education Association of Developmental Disabilities union, which represents MRDD's 185-member professional staff at the Leonard Kirtz School and MRDD workshops, plus secretaries, were conducted from 10:30 a.m. to about 7 p.m. Monday, Larry Duck, MRDD superintendent, said.
A federal mediator is involved in the talks.
While not willing to discuss specifics of the negotiations, he said money issues, including wages and health insurance, are at the heart of the dispute.
MEADD, affiliated with the Ohio Education and National Education associations, issued a strike notice about two weeks ago.
AFSCME talks
The MRDD board also has been negotiating with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union, Local 1143, which represents about 85 custodians, bus drivers, bus aides, mechanics and cooks. Originally, Local 1143's contract also expired at midnight today. But, Duck said, the union has agreed to a 30-day extension.
Victor Marchese is the head negotiator for MEADD.
Sandy Conley of the law firm of Clemans-Nelson heads the MRDD bargaining team.