FCHA meeting changed for employees’ benefit
The meeting of all employees of the Fayette County Housing Authority originally slated for noon Wednesday at Bierer Wood Acres was changed to later in the day so all employees could attend, according to the maintenance workers’ union steward. Dan Traficante confirmed Wednesday that the meeting was changed to 5 p.m. Wednesday at Eberly Park in Oliver so all FCHA employees could attend.
Although the announcement did not specify the reason for the 20-minute meeting, some members of the FCHA board of directors have theorized that the meeting was held to discuss the status of union contract negotiations. Attendance was requested but not mandatory, according to the letter regarding the meeting.
The contract with 24 FCHA maintenance employees expired earlier this year and an agreement has not yet been reached. FCHA Chairwoman Angela M. Zimmerlink said earlier that the union has threatened to stop providing health care coverage to non-union employees unless the FCHA board accepts the latest offer.
Zimmerlink said if the non-union employees’ health care coverage is dropped by the union, the FCHA will have to provide coverage to its employees and they will not go without coverage. She said the only unresolved contract issue is the amount of money employees will contribute to their pension under the new contract.
Currently, the FCHA contributes 15.3 percent of every employee’s salary toward the pension.
Zimmerlink has advocated having employee contributions toward the pension amount for years, a change that’s a sticking point with the union.
The FCHA board of directors has called a special meeting for 8 a.m. on Friday.