Library reinstates pay scale, cuts sick leave, vacations

AUSTINTOWN

The Board of Trustees of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County has approved an agreement with a labor union that will reinstate a higher wage scale for its members.

During a special meeting here Wednesday, the board approved the two-year pact, retroactive to April 30, with the Service Employees International Union Local 1199, which represents about 90 clerical, maintenance and technical workers.

The contract reinstates a 2009 wage scale that members had voluntarily reduced to a 2008 level, noted Janet S. Loew, public-relations director.

In 2009, library officials asked the SEIU to take the rollback when state money was drastically cut, Loew explained. About a year later, she said, state funding hadn’t picked up, so union members also accepted a pay freeze at 2008 levels.

Also built in are reductions in the number of annual vacation and sick days.

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