Board of trustees OKs contract for 121 service-union employees

YOUNGSTOWN -- The board of trustees of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County approved a three-year and three-month contract with the union representing its 121 clerical, maintenance and technical employees.
The contract, which takes effect Sunday, was ratified last Sunday by a 75-7 vote by members of Service Employees International Union District 1199.
It grants 3-percent pay raises effective each Feb. 1. The current contract, which will expire Saturday, has a pay scale ranging from $8.88 to $11.98 per hour, depending on job classification and years of service.
The new contract increases full-time employees' cost-sharing in their health insurance premiums in the second and third years of the contract.
In the second year, cost shares rise from 5 percent to 6 percent for the single plan and from 7 percent to 8.5 percent for the family plan. In the third year, they rise to 7 percent for the single plan and 10 percent for the family plan.
Part-timers' cost sharing will remain at 40 percent.