NorCo Council Approves New Term Sheet For AFSCME Union at Gracedale

At last night's very brief meeting (24 minutes), Northampton County Council voted 8-0 to approve a three-year term sheet for the AFSCME union employees at Gracedale. They will receive COLAs (cost of living adjustments over the next three years in the amounts of 4%, 3.5% and 3%. 

While these increases appear small, they follow and agreement between the county and AFSCME last year. They addressed the two most important issues raised in a County Council-ordered operational assessment of Gracedale by Affinity Health Services - the need to pay more money as well as an ability to hire experienced nursing staff at levels commensurate with their time on the job. 

The changes made last year are as follows: 

CNAs. - The previous starting rate for a CNA was $14.28 an hour. (Pay grade 4, step 3). The new starting rate is $16.61 an hour. That's a base pay of $34,538 a year. CNAs working the second shift already get an extra $1.50 an hour, and those who work third shift get an extra $1.00 an hour. On top of that, CNAs get an extra $0.75 an hour just for showing up on weekdays, and $3.00 an hour just for showing up on weekends. So, a new CNA who works second shift on a weekend will actually be getting $21.11 an hour. 

It gets better. The bottom three steps have been eliminated so that all new hires will start at $16.61. Moreover, three new steps have been added to the top of the scale. 

A CNA who has 5-10 years of experience in that role at another facility will start at $17.80 an hour. One with 10+ years on the job can be hired at $25.38. 

LPNs. -  The previous starting rate for a LPN was $21.35 an hour. (Pay grade 9, step 3). The new starting rate is $23.69 an hour. That's a base pay of $49.269 a year. LPNs who work the second shift already get an extra $2.50 an hour, and those who work third shift get an extra $2.00 an hour. On top of that, LPNs get an extra $3 an hour just for showing up on weekdays, and $4 an hour on weekends. So, a new LPN who works second shift on a weekend will actually be getting $27.85 an hour. 

As with the CNAs, the bottom three steps have been eliminated so that all new hires will start at $23.69. Moreover, three new steps have been added to the top of the scale. 

A LPN who has 5-10 years of experience in that role at another facility will start at $25.38 an hour. One with 10+ years on the job can be hired at $27.17. 

The new term sheet for Gracedale workers was approved 8-0. Council member Ron Heckman was absent. 

The meeting did start off bizarrely enough, with Beverly Hernandez attempting to deliver a diatribe during courtesy of the floor. She was shocked to learn that she gets only five minutes and is barred from using other speakers to waive their time in favor of her. Last time she was in front of County Council, she threatened them with the curses of Leviticus and the wrath of an Old Testament God.

This time, she suggested the county does nothing about the homeless and that she went out herself and gave a blanket to one of them. "First they came for the Catholics," she said, and then asked if anyone has read the Constitution." She also complained about the price of eggs. She also claimed she speaks for the people and complained about a lack of interpreters or someone who could use sign language. She then said she wanted to talk about Gracedale but her time was up. 

I knew Beverly Hernandez when she was a nice Republican person. She is now officially off the hook. 

When she was done, she was admonished by Republican John Goffredo. "When you come up here and attack us as if we're automatically the enemy, it makes us automatically not want to listen. It's the same thing I say to people on the other side of the aisle. ... If we're fighting each other, we're never gonna; fix anything."

Later that evening, Executive Lamont McClure addressed Council about both Lehigh and Northampton County spend millions every year to address the issue of homelessness. "If money was the only answer, we wouldn't have a homelessness problem."

Hernandez was not there. 

She left right after her rambling lecture.

Every right has a corollary duty. The right to speak includes a duty to listen. 

NorCo Administrators Respond to Staffing Crisis Story at Juvenile Justice

Yesterday, I told you that the Express Times has awarded well-deserved turkeys to Northampton County Council members Kevin Lott and Tara Zrinski. They've thrown up roadblock after roadblock to Court Administrator Jermaine Greene's attempt to resolve a staffing crisis at the Juvenile Justice Center (JJC). This has real world implications. One juvenile who should have been detained after a carjacking committed the very same offense the next day, driving off a car he stole with a girl in the back seat. It's only a matter of time before something far more serious happens. Instead of helping to solve a staffing crisis, Lott and Zrinski are endangering public safety. 

In March of 2022, Executive Lamont McClure told County Council this staffing crisis could be resolved. Subsequently, he made the largest three-year contract offer in the history of the county to the union representing JJC staff  - 4 1/2% step, 4 1/2% step and 2 1/2% COLA. There would be no increase in the cost of medical care. But union negotiators declared an impasse, primarily because the senior members were not given a new step or some other increase until the final year. They wanted it now.

Northampton County has submitted a rare reply to my story. It comes from Information Officer Brittney Waylen. Since it starts with  "As a matter of law," I presume the actual author is Executive Lamont McClure, who is an attorney. 

As a matter of law, the County is the bargaining agent of the court system with respect to collective bargaining. In negotiating with the YDC workers, we have held multiple meetings seeking to find a fair funding formula. Like the Commonwealth, the County bargains wages and health care on a pattern basis meaning that it tries to generally treat all employees identically when it comes to cost of living adjustments.

Despite that pattern, the County made an offer to the YDC workers based on what the Court system informed the County the YDC workers would agree. That did not result in an agreement and the YDC workers chose instead—as is their right—to seek arbitration. That arbitration is scheduled for June 29th and will result in a new contract and some degree of retroactive wage adjustment. In the interim, the Court system has also unilaterally proposed the creation of supervisory positions which cannot be imposed but must instead be bargained. Moreover, the Court’s proposal will have an effect on the wages of the YDC workers—the majority of whom would be out of a job under the Court’s proposal.

While the County is the bargaining agent for the Court system, the County also has an obligation to follow applicable Pennsylvania labor law. That means that, while the Court’s idea regarding supervisory positions is extant, it is left to the County to work with the union to attempt to bring the Court’s proposal into line with the law. This is what the County is attempting to do.

I appreciate your suggestion regarding tweaking the prior offer to the YDC workers. I would respectfully point out that the YDC workers have yet to accept any offer made by the County despite prior tweaks and adjustments. In addition, in the wake of the unilateral creation of these supervisory positions, this further complicates the matter. Why accept the frontloading of these positions when the supervisory positions pay more? (even though they are not self-executing and cannot simply be imposed without bargaining)

At the end of the day, the County has the duty to the taxpayers to find the right combination of expenditure and service regarding all employees in an effort to create a model sustainable for the future. The most effective forum for doing so is in front of a neutral arbitrator who will hear both sides and help the parties reach an equitable solution. While we cannot go back to the beginning of bargaining, we can prepare for the future secure in the knowledge that a process designed to resolve these disputes will address all the equities you mention and a solution will be found. I have great confidence in the wisdom of the arbitrator—working with the Union and the County in properly litigated forum designed to resolve industrial disputes—will reach a fair outcome.

The county likes to take a cookie cutter approach to union negotiations, and this pattern approach has benefits. But no two bargaining units are the same. What works with one union is unacceptable to others. In fact, the county deviated from its own approach with Gracedale by offering bonuses to hire and retain workers. The county itself has failed to follow its own pattern approach. 

I agree that the County is the bargaining agent for the courts and offered the same salaries that the courts recommended. But the stumbling block had nothing to do with the salarie. It was instead a trivial disagreement whether more senior youth care workers get a raise or a new step in the first or last year. The amount in dispute really is a pittance, and in view of the threat to public safety resulting from a staffing shortage, the county really should have just agreed to pay the money. 

The county and union both have allowed this unresolved contract to languish in spite of the staffing crisis at JJC.  Nearly every month, Court Administrator Jermaine Greene has made you aware that no arbitration was scheduled. Neither you nor the union bothered to contact the PLRB to learn why this was taking so long. When you learned that it was because an arbitrator had retired, you took no action with PLRB to urge a prompt resolution. When the arbitration was finally scheduled, it was not until the end of this month, meaning the crisis will continue with no resolution until weeks or months later. 

Greene tried at first to hire more part-time workers. Then he proposed more supervisors. Now he wants assistant supervisors because he needs bodies. I'm sure he would have been happy if he had a contract, but this has been delayed for far too long. Lott and Zrinski have resisted Greene every time he attempts to get more badly needed staff. . 

You indicate that, as a matter of law, these assistant supervisory positions should be union. You may be right, and all you need do is file a unit clarification petition. But you also have an obligation to follow the County Council resolution authorizing these new positions. I agree you have an obligation to taxpayers, and that includes their public safety. This has gone on long enough. You could solve this impasse tomorrow if you wished. Why not do that instead of letting Lott bray about union bustin' and Zrinski accuse Greene of being a liar?

Finally, I disagree that the majority of youth care workers will be out of a job. Those positions eliminated are all vacant. Nobody is going to be out of a job. 

Thanks for the reply. 

Gracedale Union Workers Reduce Sick Time, See COLA Rise

According to the contract for Gracedale's AFSCME union workers, they would be entitled to a 2.5% instead of a 2% COLA this year if successful at reducing sick time in 2017. On January 2, Human Resources certified to Executive Lamont McClure that AFSCME has met this metric, So he is asking Council to give their COLA an extra bump. In doing so, McClure is honoring a contract.

AFSCME Firmly Behind Lamont McClure

How would you like to be able to pick the boss who decides whether or not you get a raise? That's exactly what's happening in the Northampton County race for County Executive. The very first person to speak for Lamont McClure was AFSCME Business Agent Justus James, who negotiates most of the union contracts with Northampton County. Also present were both the past and current AFSCME union presidents at Gracedale. They'll give him money collected from union members, and he'll give them money collected from us. Sounds fair, right?

Also in the audience was Gregg Potter, president of the LV Labor Council, and Charles Dertinger, a former Council member tied in with IBEW.

Controller Stevie Barron, who is something of a union organizer himself, told the assembled green T-shirted lynch mob that McClure is his man. After all, he can't be Controller forever. He can get a job in the McClure administration as an asbestos searcher.

Then there were the green T-shirted "Save Gracedale" mob, who acted as though this campaign announcement was some sort of religious revival and whipped themselves into a frenzy.

All they needed was a rope.

Council member Ken Kraft was there, but only as a courtesy. He is remaining neutral in the race. Though close friends with McClure, DA John Morganelli was absent at yesterday's announcement.



Gracedale supporters


In fairness, here's a recap on what AFSCME does:

AFSCME Fails to Report Election Eve Ads

If you read The Express Times or get any of the small area weeklies, you'll see that AFSCME has taken out ads in nearly all of them, urging readers to support the Gracedale Initiative being decided by voters today. But they've filed no reports with the elections office, listing these expenses, according to my own investigation there on Monday afternoon.

According to the Campaign Expense Reporting Law, 25 P.S. § 3248, any independent expenditure of $500 or more after the final pre-election/pre-primary report has been filed, must be reported to the Elections Registrar within 24 hours.

AFSCME is ending this process just as it started it, by thumbing its nose at elections laws.

Is AFSCME Sacrificing Gracedale Union Members?

Evil Ron Angle has been vilified as the driving force behind a sale of Gracedale. But as recently as yesterday, he told me he's still willing to keep it in County hands if unions agree to $6 million in concessions. AFSCME Agent Justus James walked out of the last "negotiation" session. Instead of givebacks, County officials were greeted by a giant inflatable rat and a horde of union members, who carted terrified and wheelchair-bound residents into a Council meeting. Of course, they did it at County expense.

If this was an attempt to bully Council members, it backfired. They voted that night to hire someone to steer them through a sale.

Now, a referendum drive is underway. But it's increasingly apparent that it will fall well short of the required 20,000 signatures, especially as the nights grow longer and the weather turns colder.

Some Gracedale union members are beginning to have second thoughts about the tactics used by their leadership. Inside word is that Justus James has been pressured to call the John Stoffa administration, but he's refused.

James did recently promise a Council member I won't name to call one particular County official. But guess what? As of the end of the day yesterday, there's been no call.

If James thinks the County is bluffing, he better think again.

I suspect AFSCME has already decided that concessions might jeopardize other contract negotiations, so Gracedale's union workers are being sacrificed.