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CLASS Inc. management defends its offer to workers

Eagle-Tribune - 7/27/2018

July 27--LAWRENCE -- The leader of CLASS Inc., the agency that provides day care and training for people with severe disabilities, says he has offered "competitive wage increases" to employees, who are on the verge of going on strike.

The union rejected the latest offer, saying it does not "significantly improve" pay and working conditions, according to Andrew Farnitano, spokesman for Local 509 of the Service Employees International Union.

"With the union bargaining committee threatening another strike to begin on Monday, July 30, CLASS presented a best and final offer for a one-year contract that balances the need for increased pay for our valuable direct care work force with the reality that our reimbursement rates are set by the state. We we can only pay staff what is afforded in those rates," Alfred Frugoli, president and chief executive officer of the agency, said in a statement.

CLASS Inc. management and the negotiating team for Local 509 met Monday night. A federal mediator joined the talks, Frugoli noted.

Besides increased pay, the offer from CLASS includes additional compensation for one-to-one work, higher starting rates and other language adjustments, he said.

"Following a union caucus, we were notified that the union committee would not allow staff to vote on the offer," Frugoli said. "We are hopeful that the union committee will reconsider and allow staff members to vote on this offer."

Farnitano said numerous CLASS employees were at the negotiating session -- and none of them supported management's latest offer. CLASS had offered a 40-cent increase per hour while the union seeks a $1 per hour raise.

The "best and final offer" does not "significantly improve" the employees' wages, Farnitano said.

CLASS pays the lowest wages of all similar agencies in the state, he said. Furthermore, CLASS paid temporary workers about $1 million over the last two years, he added.

Many of the temporary workers who are hired when there are not enough regular employees are not trained on how to work with clients with severe behavioral problems, Farnitano noted.

"They can clearly afford to pay their hard-working employees a higher wage," he said. Most of the workers represented by Local 509 earn less than $15 per hour, which will be the state's minimum wage within the next five years, according to Farnitano.

The CLASS workers staged a one-week strike earlier this month. If they go ahead with the strike scheduled for Monday, it will be open-ended and will continue until management makes a better offer, Farnitano said.

The starting pay for day service direct care workers at CLASS Inc. is $12.50 per hour, according to data provided by Farnitano. Similar agencies pay starting rates ranging from $12.82 to $14.89 per hour, according to the data provided by Farnitano.

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