MAHONING COUNTY Mediator supervises talks between MRDD and union

AUSTINTOWN -- Bargaining teams for the Mahoning County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and the Mahoning Education Association of Developmental Disabilities were to meet at 1 p.m. today under the supervision of a federal mediator.
Additional contract talks could continue Tuesday if both sides agree, according to Larry Duck, MRDD superintendent.
MEADD has notified the MRDD board it will strike at midnight Wednesday if agreement is not reached on a new work contract. MEADD's contract expired Aug. 31, but it extended its contract to Wednesday.
Duck said if MEADD does strike, the board will make announcements regarding alternatives for services to families and consumers of MRDD services.
The MRDD board provides services for the county's mentally retarded at Leonard Kirtz School and several workshops. MEADD represents the MRDD professional staff, including teachers, therapists and others.
Duck said that the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union local, which represents bus drivers, bus aides, mechanics, cooks and custodians, has signed an extension of its bargaining agreement Sept. 29 for 30 days or until an agreement is reached. As with MEADD, AFSCME's original contract expired Aug. 31.