Negotiations to establish a collective bargaining agreement
between McKean County and its newest labor union, the Court-Related
Unit, began Tuesday.

County Administrator Richard Casey said the talks to this point
are centered around establishing language for a fledgling labor
agreement, much of which is similar to an existing contract with
the prison guards under the auspices of the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union.

The Court-Related Unit – formed Aug. 29, 2005 – took shape after
the sheriff’s deputies “broke away” from the prison. The union,
which excludes management level employees including supervisors and
confidential workers, consists of court-related employees –
including those in the sheriff, district attorney, prothonotary,
register of wills, public defender and coroner’s offices.

The new union is being represented by Peggy Hoak of AFSCME. All
told, there are 15 positions involved in the new union, county
officials said.

“We have officially started negotiating and it’s been pretty
much what we expected to this point,” Casey said Tuesday night.
“It’s ongoing and will be for some time.”

According to Casey, the first session was short and both sides
discussed the proposed language structure for the new contract.

“The language was basically extracted from the existing labor
agreement we have with the prison guards,” Casey said. “Now, we
need some time to look it over and meet with her (Hoak) again to
give her some feedback on it and provide some other input. I
imagine we’ll not only recommend some alterations to the language,
but propose some language of our own.”

While the length of the contract was not decided on during the
session, Casey said in the past, the county’s labor agreements have
been for three years, but could be elevated to a fourth year if
both sides agree on the time frame.

“We basically just wanted to see which way she (Hoak) was going
to take the negotiations,” Casey said. “Proposing the language
right off the bat like she did was good.”

Casey said both sides will meet again concerning the contract on
March 7.

The county also has a handful of other unions, including for 911
Center employees, corrections officers and the commissioners
residual unit. The 911 Center and commissioners residual unit
workers are under the auspices of the Pennsylvania Social Services
Union (PSSU).

There was no time frame given on when the county would like to
see a final agreement in place with the Court-Related Unit.
Negotiations were originally slated to begin Feb. 13, but were
postponed due to Hoak being unable to attend the meeting.