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Ohio Child Support Enforcers Strike Over Wages, Benefits
Determined to keep fighting for a fair wage and benefit package, child support enforcement workers in Allen County, Ohio, represented by Local 4319 were into the third week of a strike as the CWA News went to press.
"Their will to prevail is very strong," Local 4319 Vice President Robert Hull said. "The employees feel they're right and they're exercising their right as union members to get a contract that they feel is acceptable and respectable."
All 33 unionized members of the agency, which collects money from parents owing child support, walked out March 26. Their contract expired in October and bargaining began a month earlier. The two sides met for a mediation session a week into the strike but broke no new ground, Hull said.
The employees make an average of $11 an hour, which Hull said is considerably below other county workers in Allen County, as well as neighboring regions. "Even workers at the hamburger place next door make $14 an hour," he said.
Medical care is another sticking point. Employees pay 25 percent of their health insurance premiums, which have gone up 67.5 percent over the past two years. "That equates to a couple of dollars an hour," Hull said, explaining that the union is asking the county to cap the annual increase in premiums for workers at 10 percent.
The agency's workers also want equity in sick time. Other county employees accrue sick days more quickly, giving them a total of 15 each year. The child support collection workers earn only 10 days.
The agency's director has claimed in local media reports that she and three non-represented workers have managed to keep the office running relatively well. Union members doubt it. "Ninety-five percent of us are on strike," agency bookkeeper Cheryl Chiles told the Lima News. "You do the math. We're out here, so who's in there? It might be business as usual, but for how long?"
Hull said the union has had a lot of support from the community and other unions. Fellow CWA members, AFSCME members, sheriff's employees and correctional officers who are losing their own jobs because a nearby prison is closing are among those who have spent time on the picket line. "The pressure's being put on the employer by the community to solve this," he said.
"Their will to prevail is very strong," Local 4319 Vice President Robert Hull said. "The employees feel they're right and they're exercising their right as union members to get a contract that they feel is acceptable and respectable."
All 33 unionized members of the agency, which collects money from parents owing child support, walked out March 26. Their contract expired in October and bargaining began a month earlier. The two sides met for a mediation session a week into the strike but broke no new ground, Hull said.
The employees make an average of $11 an hour, which Hull said is considerably below other county workers in Allen County, as well as neighboring regions. "Even workers at the hamburger place next door make $14 an hour," he said.
Medical care is another sticking point. Employees pay 25 percent of their health insurance premiums, which have gone up 67.5 percent over the past two years. "That equates to a couple of dollars an hour," Hull said, explaining that the union is asking the county to cap the annual increase in premiums for workers at 10 percent.
The agency's workers also want equity in sick time. Other county employees accrue sick days more quickly, giving them a total of 15 each year. The child support collection workers earn only 10 days.
The agency's director has claimed in local media reports that she and three non-represented workers have managed to keep the office running relatively well. Union members doubt it. "Ninety-five percent of us are on strike," agency bookkeeper Cheryl Chiles told the Lima News. "You do the math. We're out here, so who's in there? It might be business as usual, but for how long?"
Hull said the union has had a lot of support from the community and other unions. Fellow CWA members, AFSCME members, sheriff's employees and correctional officers who are losing their own jobs because a nearby prison is closing are among those who have spent time on the picket line. "The pressure's being put on the employer by the community to solve this," he said.