Armstrong County Children, Youth and Family Services caseworkers hold 1-day strike

Union members who work for Armstrong County Children, Youth and Family services and the county Assessor’s Office staged a one-day strike Friday.

Over a dozen union members of the Service Employees International Union Local 668 union workers walked the picket line outside of the Armstrong County Courthouse. They gathered at 7 a.m. for the one-day strike after working without a contract for seven months. A press release from SEIU 668 said caseworkers have been negotiating for higher wages and their demands have gone unanswered.

Hayden Wolf has been an intake caseworker at the agency for a little over two years. He’s a member of the negotiation team and said wages are no longer competitive enough to attract new hires.

Steve Cantanese, president of Local 668, said the department has been unable to fill 30% of caseworkers’ positions since 2023. He said there are 12 caseworkers employed at the county agency.

Cantanese said Armstrong County offers some of the lowest average start wages for caseworkers in child welfare. Armstrong is classified as a Sixth Class County. Cantanese said, out of the 24 Sixth Class counties in the state, Armstrong offers the lowest starting rates.

The current starting rate offered to the county caseworkers is $16 an hour. He said union members have been negotiating with county commissioners to set a multiyear contract that raises base wages by at least $2 per hour.

County Commissioners Chairman John Strate said officials understand employees’ need for higher wages but said Armstrong is a “depressed” county that’s losing population.

“There’s no hiding the fact that Armstrong County employees are not high paid employees,” Strate said. “We continue to lose population and employees.”

Strate said he and the other commissioners are dedicated to reaching a deal with the union workers. He said during a previous commissioners meeting the commissioners promised to sit in a room for negotiations and stay in the room until both parties were happy.

“This is where we stand currently with the strike, and we’re dedicated to resolving it.”

The county’s latest offer

Strate said the latest offer from the county would immediately raise starting wages from $16 per hour to $18.75 and that wages would increase an average of 21% over the life of a four-year contract, with 2% increases in each of the last three years of the contract.

Cantanese said current wages do not reflect the requirements it takes to become a caseworker. Eligible applicants are required to have a college degree and are expected to be involved in possibly dangerous situations to extract a child from unsafe environments.

Cantanese said while commissioners have raised their offers during negotiations, there is still about a 10% difference between the two sides for contracts lasting longer than three years.

“Up until (Thursday night), we really had not been given an offer that’s fair in any capacity,” caseworker Brianna Bailey said.

Wolf said the position is not a 9-to-5 job. He was at the picket line before 7 a.m. after being on call for the agency until 3 a.m.

“Your expectation is to go in, unarmed, to places police don’t even go into without backup sometimes,” he said. “The fact that workers have to bargain this hard and consider withholding their labor to make sure they can get near a living wage and recruit qualified caseworkers is a problem. A big problem.”

Bailey has been a caseworker at the agency for 10 years. She said she works three jobs to pay her bills.

“We get these younger people that are coming out of school and they live at home,” Bailey said. “The moment they try to leave home, they can’t. Making $16 an hour is not going to cover rent, food, a car payment and all that stuff.”

Wolf and Bailey said they’ve had to make sacrifices to be able to stay afloat.

“It’s gotten to a point where to cover your basic needs, you have to put something off. It’s picking and choosing. … We’re surviving, but we’re not living,” Wolf said.

A caseworker has not been hired since 2023, SEIU Local 668 stated in a press release.

Cantanese said union negotiators are trying to find a way to keep the wages competitive compared to positions in other counties and make sure current employees are not falling behind inflation more than they already have.

“One way or another, by the end of this deal, hopefully start rates are going up,” Cantanese said.

He said the agency’s highest wage earner is an employee who makes around $29 an hour after working at the agency for 30 years.

The picket line began at 7 a.m. Friday with a rally at 11:30 a.m., where workers spoke publicly.

After the one-day strike, union workers are planning to return to work and negotiations.