Published: December 15, 2006 10:50 pm            

NIAGARA COUNTY: CSEA deal draws near

Niagara County and its largest union won’t confirm that a tentative contract between the parties will be vetted and voted on by employees in the coming weeks, but their responses hinted that something is brewing.

Tom Lafornia, CSEA Niagara Unit president, said he would have no comment “until after my members are notified.”

Sources told the Union-Sun & Journal that a tentative deal will be discussed with CSEA members, who comprise the county’s white-collar workforce, late next week. A vote is expected just after Jan. 1.

County Manager Gregory Lewis declined to comment on the advice of a state mediator who is helping the discussions along. The mediator was brought in after the county declared that it was at an impasse with CSEA and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 182, the two largest county unions, earlier this year.

CSEA has been negotiating with the county for four years. The union participated in a contract ratification vote in late 2003 but the measure failed and the union continued to negotiate. While other parts of the contract have been agreed to, wages and health care have separated the sides.

Part of the delay is due to the county’s change in negotiators over the years and part is because agreement on a health care plan has been elusive.

AFSCME has also been negotiating for four years.

“We’re philosophically on the same page,” said AFSCME President Edward McDonald.

He said the county offered his union a self-funded plan through Independent Health. It’s an offer he’s not sure he will take.

McDonald isn’t as concerned about which carrier provides the insurance as much as he’s concerned about the benefits.

And he also doesn’t want the county to have total control over changes to the plan.

“I can’t have that,” he said. “That would never happen.”

McDonald plans to meet with the county before the end of the year to discuss the proposal.

A new contract for his union would last until 2008, though McDonald said he was hoping to strike a deal that would last longer.

“I’ve been negotiating since the middle of 2002. I’m tired,” he said.

Contact Jill Terreriat 282-2311, ext. 2250.

        

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