After several months of contract negotiations with the New York State Nurses Association, Cayuga County legislators are asking the state Public Employment Relations Board to help bring the two sides to an agreement.
The county declared negotiations at an impasse at its meeting Wednesday with NYSNA.
“We were more than willing to talk about this,” said NYSNA spokesman Mark Genovese. “What we're not willing to do, however, is accept continued concessions.”
Genovese said the county's 45 public health nurses, who have been without a contract since Jan. 1, are being asked to raise the number of years of service required to receive health insurance coverage into retirement from 10 to 20 years.
The county is also looking to increase the amount nurses contribute toward their individual health insurance premiums, from 10 to 20 percent, Genovese said. This is unfair, he said, because other county employees, including legislators, have only recently been asked to contribute the initial 10 percent.
“Our feeling is that we've already made our concessions, and that's it,” Genovese said.
But David Pappert, chairman of the Legislature Ways and Means Committee, which oversees union contract negotiations, said that Genovese's remarks about nurses being asked to pay 20 percent toward individual coverage are inaccurate.
“I would certainly not confirm that,” said Pappert, who noted that he is unable to publicly discuss specifics of contract negotiations, “and I would absolutely dispute that.”
Pappert said that the decision to declare an impasse and look for an outside mediator came about because NYSNA would not negotiate on certain issues.
As with most negotiations, wages and health insurance benefits are two primary topics that need to be resolved, Pappert said.
“If one of these things is taken out of the realm of discussion, there is nothing for us to negotiate,” Pappert said. “Those things have to be on the table.”
Genovese said that as of yet, there has been no talk of increasing the nurses' salaries, which he says are about $10,000 lower than that of the Syracuse area. Cayuga County nurses are earning salaries in the mid-$30,000 range, he said.
“The county won't be able to recruit and retain nurses if they can't show respect for (them),” Genovese added, noting that lower salaries have lead to some turnover.
An impasse had also previously been declared for the CSEA. That union has met one time with a mediator from the Public Employment Relations Board, said Pappert, who noted that that CSEA negotiations are progressing and called the meeting with the mediator “productive.”
Staff writer Linda Ober can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or linda.ober@lee.net
“We were more than willing to talk about this,” said NYSNA spokesman Mark Genovese. “What we're not willing to do, however, is accept continued concessions.”
Genovese said the county's 45 public health nurses, who have been without a contract since Jan. 1, are being asked to raise the number of years of service required to receive health insurance coverage into retirement from 10 to 20 years.
The county is also looking to increase the amount nurses contribute toward their individual health insurance premiums, from 10 to 20 percent, Genovese said. This is unfair, he said, because other county employees, including legislators, have only recently been asked to contribute the initial 10 percent.
“Our feeling is that we've already made our concessions, and that's it,” Genovese said.
But David Pappert, chairman of the Legislature Ways and Means Committee, which oversees union contract negotiations, said that Genovese's remarks about nurses being asked to pay 20 percent toward individual coverage are inaccurate.
“I would certainly not confirm that,” said Pappert, who noted that he is unable to publicly discuss specifics of contract negotiations, “and I would absolutely dispute that.”
Pappert said that the decision to declare an impasse and look for an outside mediator came about because NYSNA would not negotiate on certain issues.
As with most negotiations, wages and health insurance benefits are two primary topics that need to be resolved, Pappert said.
“If one of these things is taken out of the realm of discussion, there is nothing for us to negotiate,” Pappert said. “Those things have to be on the table.”
Genovese said that as of yet, there has been no talk of increasing the nurses' salaries, which he says are about $10,000 lower than that of the Syracuse area. Cayuga County nurses are earning salaries in the mid-$30,000 range, he said.
“The county won't be able to recruit and retain nurses if they can't show respect for (them),” Genovese added, noting that lower salaries have lead to some turnover.
An impasse had also previously been declared for the CSEA. That union has met one time with a mediator from the Public Employment Relations Board, said Pappert, who noted that that CSEA negotiations are progressing and called the meeting with the mediator “productive.”
Staff writer Linda Ober can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or linda.ober@lee.net
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