A group of CSEA 6300 members and supporters stand along Route 394 in Mayville July 22, 2015 as part of an effort to raise awareness for the need of a new collective bargaining agreement with Chautauqua County. (Image by Jason Sample, WRFA)

MAYVILLE, NY – After waiting three-and-a-half years with no results, the leaders of a union representing an estimated 950 government workers in Chautauqua County say enough is enough and it’s time they receive a new contract.

Dozens of members and supporters of the Civil Service Employees Association  (CSEA) Unit 6300 were in Mayville Wednesday night prior to the Chautauqua County Legislature meeting in an attempt to draw attention for the need of a new contract.

The members of the union – which includes highway department employees, social service workers, health department workers, and others – have been working under the terms of their old collective bargaining agreement since Jan. 1, 2012.

Local president Steve Skidmore spoke to WRFA Wednesday night and said the group is at an impasse with the county over a new contract, and wanted to raise awareness and support through Wednesday night’s rally.

“We’re out here because we haven’t had a new contract in 43 months,” Skidmore said. “We’re frustrated. We tried to show the county how to save millions of dollars in insurance [costs] and they seem to walk away from it.”

Skidmore said at issue in negotiations is health insurance, and the amount of money the county could be saving in the line item if it were to go with a plan supported by the union.

“The sticking point is how we fund the insurance and how we could save so much money over the past few years and into the future. It’s money the taxpayers could save – not only is it money that could help us get raises, but it could save the taxpayers money,” Skidmore said. “We’ve had our own insurance company and another insurance company give presentations, showing the county where it could save money, and they still don’t want to do it.”

CSEA members and supporters stand outside the Gerace Office building during a rally on July 22, prior to the Chautauqua County Legislature Meeting. The group is trying to raise awareness for the need of a new contract. (Image by Jason Sample, WRFA)

County executive Vince Horrigan says that the contract negotiations have been ongoing since before he took office at the start of 2014 and he’s made it a top priority since being elected. He adds that while the two sides are currently at an impasse, he’s confident a new deal can be reached with the help of a mediator.

“We’re closer than a lot of people think,” Horrigan said. “Some of it is ‘Where are the savings?’ and ‘When will the savings happen?’ We have three other unions which we have negotiated successful contracts and we have to be careful that whatever we do with our insurance policy, it applies with everyone. We don’t want to wind up impacting or violating other agreements.”

“While I can’t comment on the specifics, I do think a mediator will help us iron out the perceived differences,” Horrigan concluded.

Meanwhile, CSEA labor relations specialist Don Luna is also inviting anyone with the knowledge of health insurance to offer their help as well in trying to iron out a deal.

“We’re asking somebody to take a look at this, besides us. It seems like the county and us are at a standstill. They think it’s one thing, we think it’s another,” Luna told WRFA. “So we’re asking anybody that has an expertise in insurance to come and take a look at this plan and see who’s right.”

Horrigan said that while he’s not sure how long the mediation process will take, he’s hoping to get the contract situation finally resolved sooner, rather than later. The contract would also need to be reviewed and approved by the legislature prior to going into effect.

On Feb. 26, 2014, the Chautauqua County Home in Dunkirk, NY was sold to VestaCare for a price of $16 million.

MAYVILLE – The Chautauqua County Legislature has given its approval for the privatization of the county home in Dunkirk.

Lawmakers voted Wednesday to approve the sale of the 216-bed skilled nursing facility to VestraCare with a price tag of $16 Million. The final vote was 13 to 5, with all lawmakers representing the Dunkirk and Fredonia areas voting against the sale. Thirteen votes were needed for the sale to go through, with County Legislature Chairman Jay Gould absent due to illness. The successful vote comes only after three previous failed attempts in 2013 to sell the facility.

SALE WAS INEVITABLE

The legislature spent 20 minutes discussing the sale prior to voting. Dunkirk Legislator Terry Niebel pleaded with his colleagues to hold off on selling, saying that the property was worth a lot more than the $16 million that was being offered.

“the only valuation that we have is from 1997 and that was a full valuation…. and that valued the county home at $23.9 million,” Niebel explained, adding, “That was actually six years before the $18 million renovation. And even since then, we’ve put $400,000 into a gas well and another $800,000 into a boiler and air conditioning system.”

Niebel suggested that lawmakers take the time to due a new valuation of the property to have an up-to-date assessment, saying that in the meantime, the county home could still operate for another two years without any additional taxpayer money.

Despite Niebel’s reasoning, Jamestown legislator Fred Larson explained that the sale of the county home would be inevitable and, considering the current offer from VestraCare would expire at the end of this month, failure to act now means the county would only be flushing money down the drain.

“If the county home is not sold tonight, it will be sold next month, probably for another $500,000 less,” Larson explained. “The buyer knows that next month there will be 13 votes in favor of selling for $15.5 million. There is simply no point to dragging this agony out and costing the taxpayers another half million dollars by waiting until next month or the month after to sell.”

CUTTING THE SAFETY NET

Prior to the vote, the legislature spent nearly 45 minutes listening to comments from the 14 members of the public, which were overwhelmingly against selling the facility.

Among those who spoke was Jamestown resident and former legislator Timothy Hoyer, who said that the county home provides a safety net for many senior residents who have no where else to go and that by selling the home, the county would be turning its back on those who are most in need of help.

Jamestown resident and local CSEA president Steve Skidmore also commented, saying that workers at the home have always been willing to make concessions. “Over and over I saw it reported in the paper that the CSEA wouldn’t come to the bargaining table to try and do our part and do what [the CGR study] said we can do with the county,” Skidmore said. ” It was patently untrue. We sent letter after letter to the county executive and he just ignored them.”

North county resident Joanne Niebel also was against the sale, saying the county home not only supports residents who need senior care and may not get it anywhere else, but also provides quality jobs that contribute to the local economy. “We have people in the community gleeful that these people are going to lose their paychecks and benefits, when they’re the ones who support the communities in the north, when we have nothing else. I mean, you couldn’t even keep a cookie factory in Silver Creek.”

The lone person to express his support for selling the facility was County Chamber of Commerce President Todd Tranum. “Failure to vote ‘yes’ and proceed with the sale, as many of you know, is just kicking the hard decision down the road. You do not want a situation – where many of you may still be in this room – two or three years from now having to make the difficult decision that other county’s have had to make to close the county home.”

Chautauqua County Home in Dunkirk, NY.

MAYVILLE – The President of the union that works at the Chautauqua County Home says he heard some positive things from a group of buyers who want to buy the skilled nursing facility, but they also left a few of his questions unanswered.

CSEA Chautauqua County Unit President Steve Skidmore represents the 280 employees who work at the county home in Dunkirk and who are fighting to keep the facility publicly owned by the county. Skidmore says that while representatives from VestraCare said that they would employee the same number of employees, if not more, while also providing similar wages, he said the didn’t guarantee the current employees would be able to keep their jobs.

He also said the representatives were not clear about a possible tax break they would be getting from the county for $1 million in upgrades that are included in the proposed contract. “It’s right in this agreement that they will get a million dollar PILOT program from the IDA, so when they say they’re going to spend a million dollars to improve the Chautauqua County Home, they’re going to spend IDA money and taxpayers money to improve the home. That’s not their money.”

The county legislature will be acting Feb. 26 on the sale of the home for $16 million to VestraCare. In the meantime, Skidmore says he will continue to try and persuade lawmakers that selling the home would be the wrong decision.

The Post-Journal reported earlier this month that about 170 employees signed a petition saying they’d be willing to break from the union and re-negotiate a contract with the county to find a way to reduce costs and keep the facility publicly owned. Skimdore says he is aware of that effort, but also says the union has been willing to make concessions throughout the process.

“They weren’t positive the union was doing enough to negotiate the changes,” Skinner explained. “But two years ago the we tried to talk with Greg Edwards and he refused at every letter we sent to him. He never would sit down and negotiate… I doubt that [Vince] Horrigan is going to do that just because he’s going to worry about the sale first. If the sale doesn’t go through then we’ll sit down with him.”

On Feb. 5, Edward Farbenblum and Shannon Cayea-Delker from VestraCare talked with the legislature for an hour-and-a-half about their new offer to buy the county home.  While some lawmakers appear to be against the sale, it looks as though the proposal would have enough of the 13 votes needed in order for it to go forward.