Striking Lorain County JFS workers file unfair labor practices claims against commissioners

ELYRIA — A week into its strike, county Job and Family Services workers in United Auto Workers Local 2192 filed unfair labor practice complaints against Lorain County commissioners with the State Employment Relations Board. The news came Tuesday as workers, many dressed in red, packed an hourlong commissioners' meeting before holding a news conference outside the County Administration Building on Middle Avenue in Elyria. The union alleged that the county refused to bargain in good faith, an obligation under Ohio law. The union has been working without a contract since September. Negotiations broke down, the county rejected a neutral fact-finding report and the union went on strike Feb. 18 over wages, health care costs and staffing, members and officials said. The county allegedly sent representatives to bargain without giving them authority to make proposals, failed and refused to provide proposals for a new contract, engaged in "surface bargaining" — defined as going through the motions without the intent to reach an agreement — and refused to meet with the union to bargain after Jan. 28 despite "repeated public requests," the union alleged in their filings, copies of which were reviewed by The Chronicle-Telegram. Commissioners David Moore and Jeff Riddell said Tuesday evening that they hadn't seen the unfair labor practices filing. Riddell said county administration and negotiators, including the law firm Clemans Nelson and JFS Director Chris Cabot, will handle those allegations. Both have said they have made their last, best and final offer to the union, while releasing a YouTube video on Feb. 6 alleging the union asked for 26 percent pay increases, $5,000 cash bonuses and made demands that workers be allowed to work from home. The union called those claims "lies." Officials said they plan to add another shift of picketers outside the County Administration Building starting today. What the union actually asked for, officials and members said Tuesday, was a three-year contract with 8 percent pay increases each year for the life of the contract; retention bonuses to help keep workers who are leaving the job for better pay elsewhere; and for the ability to work remotely if they can't report to work. Inside Tuesday's commissioners' meeting, a dozen people including striking JFS workers stood up to support the union. Many of them encouraged the commissioners to go back to the bargaining table and hammer out an agreement with the union to put an end to the strike. The union didn't demand remote work, said striking JFS worker Tammy McGinnis. "We made a request that it be available so that people that couldn't go into the office would still be able to do their job," she said. "We didn't ask for a $5,000 cash bonus. We asked for retention bonuses so that we can keep our employees." There was no request for a 26 percent increase in pay. It was 8 percent per year over a three-year contract, which was a "negotiating starting point," McGinnis said. "You care about this county so much you are allowing JFS to strike instead of raising their pay, so that we qualify for benefits we provide to our citizens," she told commissioners. "We provide a service, we fulfilled our agreement and now you're not willing to pay for those services. Get back to the table and give us a fair deal so we can get back to doing what we actually love, and that's caring about our community." Riddell said all the claims the county made in the video were vetted before being published. Sandra Jensen of Sheffield Lake said she had both union experience from her 10 years at JFS, as well as management experience as a member of the Sheffield-Sheffield Lake Board of Education. She urged commissioners to "take a breath, take a seat at the table and do the right thing." "Right now we're on strike and we need to put it to rest," Jensen said, to applause. "Stop squabbling. Start bargaining," striking JFS worker Odis Lovejoy told the commissioners, calling them "out of touch." Striking JFS worker Candace MacIntosh said she could go to McDonalds or Costco and make a living wage there, but "I'm not passionate about flipping burgers" and "I'm not passionate about stocking shelves." "I'm passionate about helping my community. I'm passionate about helping those who go unseen, unheard, who feel disrespected. I've been there before, and at the rate things are going at JFS, I'm slowly making my way back there," she said, telling commissioners to bargain. Riddell said commissioners haven't discussed going back to the bargaining table since rejecting a fact-finder's report on Jan. 12. When the UAW position didn't change, "it left us with no other option" but to issue a final offer. Riddell said some workers already had crossed picket lines and are back at work under the terms of that final offer. In response, UAW Local 2192 JFS chairperson Gina Jones said some of the 144 workers in her unit did not go out on strike, but "we have not had anyone new cross the picket line since we started this," she said in a text message. Union members further took commissioners to task during a brief news conference on the sidewalk outside the County Administration Building on Tuesday. "By not being willing to negotiate fair wages for those of us in Adult Protective Services who are overworked taking on major responsibility, Lorain County is putting our seniors at risk," said Brittainy Schaner, an investigator for adult protective services who looks into reports of senior citizens being scammed, neglected and abused. Megan Ashley, who is one of only two JFS workers who inspects dozens of daycare providers in the county, said the county's failure to negotiate puts children and families at risk. She said all she is asking for is $1 more per hour, even though JFS workers "deserve a whole lot more." "Right now we're calling on the community to help us by standing with us," she said, her comments interrupted by loud honks of support from a passing car and cheers from her coworkers. Lorain County Children Services workers represented by UAW Local 2192 also are negotiating a new contract with the county. They are standing in solidarity with their JFS co-workers, Children Services unit chairperson Dena Jones said Tuesday. Riddell said the JFS union wants more, "but we don't have more to give." "No one wins in a strike," he said. "Nobody wants a fight. But when you can't agree, you can't agree. If you think we wanted a strike, you're nuts." Moore echoed many of Riddell's comments. "We already gave our last and best offer," he said. Asked directly by a Chronicle-Telegram reporter, Moore declined to say if he was willing to go back to the bargaining table. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.