MAHONING COUNTY Area Teamsters plan to appeal SERB ruling favoring officials

The union has 20 days to file an objection with SERB.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Teamsters will appeal a State Employment Relations Board ruling that clears Mahoning County commissioners of wrongdoing when they rejected a union contract last year.
Teamsters Local 377 filed an unfair labor practice complaint against commissioners in April 2003.
The complaint said commissioners acted in bad faith by participating in contract negotiations with employees of the county engineer's office, agreeing to wages and hospitalization, and then rejecting the contract.
But Beth C. Shillington, SERB administrative law judge, ruled Friday that commissioners did not violate labor law and were within their rights to vote against the contract.
The union has 20 days to file an objection to Shillington's recommendation. If one is not filed, the report will be adopted by the full SERB panel, said Connie Pierce, county human resources director.
If an objection is filed, a hearing will be scheduled before the entire SERB board, Pierce said.
"We're certainly going to take a hard stand on this," said Robert Bernat, Teamsters business agent. "We'll do whatever we have to do to appeal this, even if it has to go all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court."
At center of issue
The issue centers around negotiations for a contract among engineer's employees. Pierce, representing the commissioners, participated in talks regarding wages and hospitalization benefits. A tentative agreement on those issues was reached in April 2002, and Pierce did not take part in the rest of the talks.
The rest of the contract was not resolved until nine months later because of a dispute over filling vacant positions within the department.
The union ratified the final contract in January 2003, and it was forwarded to commissioners in February for their approval. They rejected the pact, upset that raises of $1 per hour had already gone into effect despite the fact that they hadn't approved the contract.
Commissioners also rejected the contract because it did not require engineering department workers to contribute 10 percent of their health-care premiums.
Union's stance
The union argued that commissioners were aware of the wage and insurance issues because Pierce had served as their delegate during negotiations. By acquiescing, then rejecting the contract, they acted in bad faith, the union said.
But Shillington ruled that commissioners were not obligated to approve the entire contract simply because Pierce had helped negotiate part of it.
Commissioner Ed Reese said he's happy with the ruling and hopes it is upheld on appeal.
"The money involved here was never an issue," Reese said. "The procedure is what was in question, in regards of those raises being given without our approval. We just want to make sure that doesn't happen again."
bjackson@vindy.com