Council to vote on AFSCME pact

By David Skolnick

The administration will make a recommendation to council on the contract.

YOUNGSTOWN — City council will decide Wednesday whether to accept a contract with a union representing about 40 water department workers that calls for pay increases of 8.7 percent over three years.

Council’s decision on the tentative pact comes as its members and others in the city are looking for ways to avoid a projected deficit of more than $3 million in its general fund by the end of this year.

Without the cuts, the city would need to eliminate 60 jobs — or the financial equivalent, $3.9 million in salary and benefits — by July 1. It’s also possible deeper cuts are needed.

The contract with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2726, calls for a 2.5-percent base salary increase this year followed by 3-percent annual raises in 2009 and 2010. That’s about 8.7 percent when compounded over the life of the contract.

The union approved the deal March 14. By law, council has to accept or reject the deal by Monday, or the contract is automatically accepted, according to a letter to council members from Law Director Iris Torres Guglucello.

The law also permits the city to request an extension from the union, she wrote.

The union agreed to give the city until Wednesday, the next scheduled council meeting, to vote on the deal, said Mayor Jay Williams.

The administration is reviewing the contract and will make a recommendation to council on or before Wednesday on its adoption, he said.

Under normal financial conditions, the contract would be considered reasonable, city officials have said.

With the city’s ailing general fund, these are not normal financial conditions.

One twist is the money to pay the AFSCME members comes from the water budget, projected to have an $846,797 surplus at the end of this year, and not the general fund.

If council approves the deal, water department employees would receive raises while city officials look at layoffs and ask for salary and benefit concessions from other employees.

Councilwoman Carol Rimedio-Righetti, D-4th and head of the finance committee, said she wants to talk to the mayor and city administrators before deciding how she’ll vote on the contract.

Councilman Jamael Tito Brown, D-3rd and the finance committee’s vice chairman, declined to comment on the AFSCME contract.

Besides the pay raises, the contract calls for union members to receive a $400 signing bonus and to continue to pay 10 percent of their monthly health insurance premiums. The city pays $412 a month for single health-care coverage and $1,042 for family coverage.

skolnick@vindy.com