MAHONING COUNTY Austintown road employees, trustees approve 3-year pact

A trustee has expressed concern about the contract.
AUSTINTOWN -- Township trustees have approved a proposed contract with the union representing road department employees.
The three-year contract, approved by trustees Monday night, calls for employees to receive 3 percent annual raises and a $750 signing bonus. Employees, for the first time, will pay a portion of the their health-care premium.
The contract would be retroactive to Jan. 1; the previous contract with the road department union expired in December.
Union officials could not be reached for comment or to say if the union will vote on the tentative contract.
Pay scale
Under the contract, road department employees would be paid a base salary of between $16.84 and $21.13 per hour this year and between $17.87 and $22.31 per hour in 2006, the last year of the contract, depending on their jobs. The total cost of the contract was not available, as township Clerk Michael Kurish was out of town.
The road department has 15 employees, not including Superintendent Michael Bertilacci.
Township Administrator Michael Dockry noted that the raises and health-care provisions are the same as those in contracts with police and firefighters.
Trustees Bo Pritchard and David Ditzler said they were satisfied with the offer. Trustee Lisa Oles voted for the contract after earlier saying she wouldn't support the agreement until she was sure that her two fellow trustees won't replace two road department employees who are set to retire in the near future.
Oles also wanted assurances that the township can afford to repave its roads while also giving employees raises. The township hasn't repaved roads since 2002 because of budget cuts. Oles could not be reached for comment this morning.