MANSFIELD — City workers represented by AFSCME Local 3088 have worked for nine months under the terms of an expired contract.
The members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union took to the streets near Central Park on Monday to make sure the public is aware of that fact.
Union district representative Joe Daniels said local leaders were optimistic when Mayor Jodie Perry took office in January, just a few months before the three-year labor deal expired at the end of April.
“We were optimistic for some changes. We had discussions with the city’s new leaders about working together and that’s not materialized,” Daniels said as more than 50 union members and supporters held up signs for passing cars on Park Avenue.
“Ideas that we took to the city as far as serving the public better, to get more work done at a lower cost, it’s just been ignored,” said Daniels said, a member of AFSCME Ohio Council 8 based in Columbus.
The union, which represents about 150 city employees across a variety of positions, staged what it called a “negotiations picket” from noon to 4 p.m. A second such session is planned Wednesday during the same hours.
The two sides have conducted a dozen negotiating sessions and are expected to soon meet with a neutral fact-finder. Both sides will present their positions and that fact-finder will issue a non-binding recommendation.
“This is part of the statutory process,” Perry told Richland Source. “It’s not unusual for contracts to expire, which is why the law allows us to continue to work.
“We would like to get an agreement in place,” said Perry, who also said the two sides had engaged the use of a mediator during the process.
(Below are photos from a “negotiations picket” staged Monday afternoon in Mansfield by members of AFSCME Local 3088.)
The now-expired three-year contract between the city and the union was settled in September of 2021 and was retroactive to May of that year.
At that time, then-AFSCME Local 3088 President Ron Wise called it the best contract he had seen in his 23 years with the city.
“I am very proud of this contract, being a part of this team,” Wise said at the time. “It’s one of the best contracts we’ve ever had. I know that for a fact because I’ve talked to people with 35, 40 years and they’re like, ‘I’ve never seen a contract this good.’”
That agreement included a pay increase of 3 percent for AFSCME workers the first year, followed by a 2.75 percent raise in the second and third year of the contract.
In October 2023, local lawmakers approved spending $998,000 in “premium payments” for AFSCME 3088 workers, including $600,000 from the city’s American Rescue Plan Act funds and $388,000 from its water and sewer funds.
Each member of the union received $6,500 in the one-time bonus payments, similar to what had been awarded to members of the police and fire unions, based on an independent arbitrator’s decision.
The same arbitrator, however, also ruled AFSCME members are not entitled to an additional 4.2-percent pay increase.
The union claimed in 2022 its members were entitled to the increase due to the “me too” clause included in the three-year deal it struck with the city in 2021.
The union made the claim after police union members received a 7.75-percent wage increase in March 2022.
However, Daniels said Monday the city began cutting positions during 2010, during a state-mandated fiscal emergency, and has never fully replaced those positions.
“(But) they continue to put more work on these individuals. Our people have done a really good job, literally working at 50 percent of the staff we had 15 years ago,” Daniels said.
“By the time we get through this process, this contract is going to be up for a year,” he said. “What we really want is just to see Mansfield grow and move in the right direction.”
Perry said the city is not opposed to wage increases or hiring more staff.
“We want to make sure we are being fiscally responsible and that we are protecting the interests of taxpayers while also providing services to residents,” the mayor said.
“For us to add personnel … I have still got to balance the budget to do that. We have added some personnel. I would like to add more. But we don’t want to hire people and then not be able to pay them.
“At the last City Council meeting, (city) Finance Director (Kelly) Blankenship said the city income tax (revenue) is flat to last year,” Perry said.
With negotiations looming with unions that represent the city’s police and fire departments, Perry said each will be handled separately.
“Likely, we will be talking with (the different unions) at the same time. Each union is handled independently and I don’t think it impacts our ability to work with them,” she said.
The mayor said she also recognized AFSCME Local 3088’s right to engage the public as it did on Monday within earshot of the Municipal Building.
“They are exercising their 1st Amendment rights,” she said. “They are certainly able to do that. We will continue on with the process.”
