Daily News County CSEA workers want a contract after over a year of negotiations and they are letting lawmakers know it. At Wednesday night's Oswego County Legislature Personnel Committee meeting, about 35 members of the Civil Service Employees Association, Local 1000, Central Region 5, filled the perimeters of the conference room to support union president Bill Reed s presentation of a letter expressing their concerns. We remain frustrated in the County's seeming unwillingness to treat its employees with the respect and dignity we deserve. It is not my understanding that the county s offers have remain unchanged, Committee Member Legislator Carolyn Rush said.
Balance is the key to any contract negotiations.
The letter also details what the CSEA feels are the two major stumbling blocks in negotiations. The union says that a New York State Civil Service study done several years ago shows that many Oswego County workers are working at a lower pay grade then their peers through out the state. The union is also fighting to allow more salary to put in several specialized tax deductible accounts in exchange for proposed higher prescription drug co-payments. There are a number of issues at stake, Committee Chairman Legislator John Proud said. Reed says that there were no results from the January 16th negotiation meeting involving a fact-finder .