MAHONING COUNTY Assumption Village workers approve new 3-year contract

Workers will receive annual raises of at least 2.8 percent.
NORTH LIMA -- Striking employees at The Assumption Village nursing home were expected to return to work today after approving a new contract.
Members of Service Employees International Union, District 1199, unanimously approved a new three-year contract that doesn't include changes in health care that management had sought, said Albert Jackson, union administrative organizer.
Management wanted employees pay a larger share of the increases in their health insurance premiums, he said. Full-time employees pay 15 percent of premiums if they are single and 25 percent for family coverage.
Union members voted Wednesday night after union officials and management agreed on a contract proposal earlier in the day.
Jackson said he was to meet with management today to discuss how workers would return to work, but he expected that to begin happening today.
Pay increases will be 3 percent in the first year and 2.8 percent in each of the final two years, Jackson said. Those are the same increases included in the company's previous offer. Average pay is about $10 an hour, he said.
The strike of about 140 workers began Friday. Included were practical nurses, nursing assistants and housekeeping, dietary, laundry and maintenance workers.
The nursing home is owned by Humility of Mary Health Partners, which also operates St. Elizabeth Health Center. HMHP officials could not be reached this morning.