AFSCME Council 13 signs three-year contract with NHS

AFSCME Council 13 signed a new three-year contract with Northwestern Human Services (NHS) on Tuesday.

Executive Director David Fillman and Assistant to the Executive Director Darrin Spann, along with the AFSCME and NHS management negotiation teams, signed the agreement at the AFSCME Conference Center in Harrisburg. NHS is the largest non-state employer under contract with AFSCME Council 13.

NHS Chief Executive Officer Joseph Martz (left) and Council 13 Executive Director David Fillman (right) shake hands at the Feb. 27 contract signing.

President of AFSCME Local 1357 (NHS) Dona Baxter signs the three-year agreement between AFSCME and NHS.

“Negotiations were difficult at times but in the end we got a great deal for the members,” Spann said.

The new contract includes a tuition reimbursement increase from 50 to 100 percent, a minimum wage increase to $11, no cost to members for specialty drugs, a 5 percent wage increase for employees with 10 years or more, a minimum of 3 percent wage increase for all employees and all wage increases being retroactive to July 1, 2017.

Employees at NHS provide a wide range of services including working with child and adult mental health patients, assisting people with Autism, drug counseling, foster care, juvenile justice and educational services, along with many other things that make AFSCME proud to represent these extraordinary workers.