LIMA — The Allen County commissioners approved a new three-year contract between the Allen County Department of Job and Family Services and Communication Workers of America union employees Thursday, one that will bring pay increases over the course of the contract.
“We had a very good negotiation session,” Allen County JFS director Steve Barker said. “There will be a 2 percent increase in base pay every year in the next three years.”
Non-union employees will also get a 2 percent pay increase in 2017, Barker said.
While much of the rest of the contract is carried over from the one currently in place, another new measure reached in the deal would see the cap on year-to-year medical premium increases for employees raised from 10 percent to 15 percent.
“The employee pays 25 percent of the total cost (of medical premium rates), but if there would be a 25 percent increase in our premiums next year, the employees would only pay an additional 10 percent, with the department making up the difference,” Barker said. That would increase to 15 percent over the next three years.
Currently, there are 72 union employees in the department, with an additional 30 non-union employees. The contract will run from the beginning of 2017 through the end of 2019.
“We’ve had some good discussions with the union,” Barker said. “I have a very good relationship with the union. They’re very willing to talk and discuss and compromise. I wish I could give them more than 2 percent, but there is concern about what kind of funding we will have in the future.”
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