Onondaga County, employee union leadership forge agreement on tentative contract

SYRACUSE — Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney and Kathy Zabinski, president of the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Local 834 union, have reached a tentative, four-year contract agreement for CSEA members that work for the county government.

The contract would be in effect for the years 2016 through 2019, Onondaga County said in a news release issued July 28.

The tentative agreement provides 2 percent raises for CSEA members working for the county in each of the four years.

The 2 percent raise for 2016 will be retroactive to Jan. 1.

Employee health-benefit contributions will gradually increase from 11 percent in 2016 to 14 percent in 2017, 16 percent in 2018, and 18 percent in 2019, and either 18 percent or 20 percent in 2020, depending on employee classification.

“The terms and language of the agreement are being finalized and will be presented” to the CSEA members starting on Aug. 8, Zabinski said in the release. The tentative date for the membership vote is Sept. 8.

The two sides earlier this year completed work on the current CSEA contract, the negotiations for which started back in 2013.

Contact The Business Journal News Network at news@cnybj.com