43
TMH raises averaged 7 1/2 percent over three years
WARREN
Trumbull Memorial Hospital service workers ratified a three-year contract with ValleyCare Health System of Ohio that provides an average 7.5 percent wage increase over the life of the agreement.
The new contract with American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2804, which expires March 31, 2016, also includes comprehensive benefits, including health insurance, according to a ValleyCare spokeswoman.
“We believe it was a really fair package and that negotiations were conducted on a professional level,” said Deborah Bindas, spokeswoman in the Youngstown Regional Office of AFSCME Ohio Council.
Local 2804 represents about 600 service, technical and skilled-trades employees at TMH.
Bindas said employee contributions to health care premiums were capped for a couple of years with minimal increases for some and reductions for others because of changes in the health plan that were positive.
Bindas said the Local 2804 agreement is the third contract negotiated in the past six months and represents all of the AFSCME- represented employees in ValleyCare.
With this new agreement, the hospitals of ValleyCare Health System of Ohio have successfully concluded five new labor agreements since November 2012. They are: Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital employees, represented by AFSCME Local 2288, ratified a new contract March 26; TMH employees, represented by the Service Employees International Union, ratified a new contract Dec. 18, 2012; Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital employees, represented by the Ohio Nurses Association, approved a new contract Dec. 19, 2012; and TMH registered nurses, represented by AFSCME Local 2026, ratified a new contract Nov. 14, 2012.
“These agreements have all been reached through productive and respectful discussions during the collective-bargaining process,” said Trish Hrina, vice president of marketing and public relations for ValleyCare Health System of Ohio.