The third time wasn’t a charm for Onondaga County CSEA workers, as members of the county’s largest union have again rejected a contract offer.
The vote wasn’t close: 1057 workers were opposed to the agreement, only 747 agreed with it.
This is the third negotiated deal between Onondaga County and employees of several departments, including the district attorney’s office, the Department of Social Services and OCC.
Union leaders say workers had two major concerns -- increases to their health insurance co-pays and premium contributions; and "anger and disappointment" over the timing and amount of wage increases for some Onondaga County elected officials, including the county legislature, and County Executive Joanie Mahoney.
Since this is the third time workers have voted down a contract, the negotiations moves to a phase called "legislative imposition." That means the county legislature will vote to impose a wage agreement for the 2013 year. Then the union and county negotiators go back to the bargaining table to work out a contract for the years 2014 and beyond. More than 2,300 county workers represented by CSEA have been without a contract since 2012.
