911 Dispatchers And Allegheny County Reach Tentative Agreement To Avoid Strike
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Allegheny County and 911 dispatchers have reached a tentative agreement to avoid a strike.
The tentative plans for a multi-year contract were announced Wednesday in a press conference days before dispatchers threatened to walk off the job.
"Nobody wants to strike," said Al Smith, a business agent for SEIU Local 668.
Contract negotiations between the SEIU representing the dispatchers and the county appeared to be at an impasse when dispatchers voted to authorize a one-day strike on March 12 -— the day of Pittsburgh's St. Patrick Day Parade. The union was protesting long shifts, forced overtime, low staffing levels and poor pay.
The SEIU contract with the county covers the dispatchers and about 400 other clerical workers in a variety of county departments. The contract had been up since the beginning of the year.
"What really helped propel this was our members standing up for what they thought was right," Smith said.
The union said it has addressed an increase in starting pay and providing a living wage.
"We think raising the start rate will allow us to recruit. Remember, we told folks we needed to recruit, retain and train," Smith said.
The union said it is short 44 dispatchers at the moment. They added that they have addressed scheduling and mandates.
Right now, dispatchers are mandated to work 12- to 16-hour shifts or told to come in on their days off.
"We have a committee set up that will be discussing scheduling and trying to figure out how that works better for both sides," Smith said.
A source told KDKA-TV that Allegheny County management has agreed to return to eight-hour shifts but not until July 1. Pay increases include 4 percent for the first three years and 3 percent for the next three.
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald celebrated the news Wednesday.
"Thank you to both the labor and the management team that put in long days and hours to reach this tentative agreement. We are glad that we were able to find a middle ground and that our employees and residents benefit and a strike is averted," he said in a statement.
A source tells KDKA-TV that the union will update members on the terms during a virtual meeting on Thursday. Union members must ratify the tentative agreement. That is expected to take a couple of weeks.
