HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County Commissioners on Tuesday ratified a new labor contract and side letter agreement with the Service Employees International Union representing Children, Youth & Families workers.

The three-year agreement allocates 3% raises for 2024 and 2% raises for both 2025 and 2026 to all full-time employees.

The proposed contract also establishes hourly starting wages, based on training, for specific jobs: caseworker 1, $20; caseworker 2, $20.50; clerk typist 1, $13; clerk typist 2, $13.65; social services aide 1, $14; social services aide 2, $14.70; social services aide 3, $15.50; and fiscal assistant, $15.

All current employees earning an hourly rate less than what is listed in the contract for their classification will have their wages increased and a 3% cost of living wage added to their first pay period after Jan. 1, according to Chief Clerk/County Administrator Nicole Hemminger.

The commissioners also approved a side letter agreement with the union to raise financial incentives for new full-time hires. Untrained caseworkers will receive a $2,000 incentive, while trained caseworkers will receive $5,000.

Commissioner Laura Burke said improving the wages of county employees is “the single, tangible thing” she’s most proud of accomplishing since beginning her term in 2020.

“I cannot emphasize enough the impact that this will have across the county in terms of the other contracts that we have to bargain in the future and making sure that county employees across all of our units are properly compensated,” she said.

Burke said the county currently has about 10 full-time and three part-time caseworkers, and the goal is to have 28 full-time and eight part-time caseworkers.

“We’ve had vacancies for so long, and being able to fill those vacancies is going to be huge for us,” she said, adding civil service positions require a certain level of training and education in order for candidates to successfully apply.

Commissioner Bruce Erb said the candidate pool for service workers is “very limited” and “very competitive. …Yet they’re paid much lower than what their worth is.”

Erb said he normally would not support spending money to keep regular costs in check.

“This is a case where the only way that we can address the crisis that exists in this county is to take steps like this,” he said.

Hemminger, who took part in two bargaining sessions, said the new contract was “well received” by the union workers.

She said the new agreement eliminates the rounding of time and hours worked and the wait period for sick leave. It also updated bereavement leave policies for some full- and part-time employees to be consistent with the county’s policies.

“We’ve eliminated compensatory time and added text to award vacation earlier in the year after successful completion of a probation period,” she said during the meeting.

The commissioners said they were happy to approve a new contract before the existing one expires Sunday.

“Everyone seems to have cooperated very nicely to come up with this deal,” Commissioner Amy Webster said via Zoom.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.