Luzerne County Government

May 21, 2010

Vote seals fate of 40 county workers

3 companies to do job training

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
Jennifer Learn-Andes on Facebook   |   @TLJenLearnAndes on Twitter

The layoff of 40 Luzerne County employees is now certain because the Luzerne-Schuylkill Workforce Investment Board voted Thursday to hire three companies to handle their job placement and training duties.

The board, which has been harshly criticized by impacted workers and their union, released new details Thursday on why the three companies were chosen over the county department that has been handling the work for years.

Board member Robert Williams, who chaired one of the screening committees, said in a media release that the proposal from the county department – the Luzerne County Workforce Investment Development Agency – did not fulfill many requirements of the board’s public request for proposals.

The agency’s submission “left the committee with no choice but to award the contracts to the other companies that submitted complete plans,” Williams said in the release.

Administrative costs to run programs were also “much higher” in the agency’s proposals, leaving less money for programs that benefit county residents, Williams said.

For example, the agency’s proposal said 17.1 percent of the funding would be used for administrating a program for unemployed adults in the county, compared to the 5 percent cited by the ReDCo Group, which was hired, the release said.

The county agency asked for 9.6 percent of funding for administration of youth programs in the county. Arbor Employment & Training, which was hired to handle those programs, would require 4.67 percent for administration, the release said.

“We will be able to utilize more of the money to fund programs and direct services that provide training and help our residents find jobs,” board Executive Director Lucyann Vierling said in the release.

Educational Data Systems was also hired by the board. Contracts for all three companies will start July 1 and run through 2013 or 2014.

The three companies were recommended by committees made up of board members and state Labor and Public Welfare office representatives.

The 37-person board, made up largely of business leaders, is currently down two because board members Ross Valenti and Patricia Staples resigned last week, county commissioners verified Thursday.

Only 22 members participated in Thursday’s meeting, with several attending by conference call to ensure a quorum.

Five board members abstained from voting Thursday. They were: Nick Cohen, Diane Niederriter, Susan Spry, Michael Saparito and Darlene Robbins. Cohen said he was not voting because a company affiliated to him may do business with one of the new operators.

Board member Phillip Semenza voted against the hiring of new companies, saying after the meeting that he wanted the board to give the county agency a year to address any state or board concerns about services or audit deficiencies before resorting to outsourcing. The county agency has consistently ranked among the top in the state for job training and placements, he said.

Semenza, who retired from the county’s Area Agency on Aging office in 2008, said the state has been pushing for the public bidding of services – a practice already used in more than half of the state’s 22 work force investment regions.

Though he disagrees with the outcome, Semenza said the board’s selection process was “fair and open.” The board and Vierling were in a “Catch 22” because the state controls the nearly $11 million in funding provided for the jobs programs, he said.

“Our board was put in a precarious situation because we are the ones that had to cut this agency loose,” he said.

The three companies have promised to give the county employees first preference if they need workers to handle the new contracts, but there are no guarantees, Semenza said.

The salaries and benefits of these jobs are still unknown. County employees who are rehired must start fresh and lose tenure in county government, he said.

Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla said the county will be offering crisis counseling to the 40 workers today, and county Human Resources Director Andrew Check will be available to discuss concerns.

Commissioners say they will publicly vote to lay off all 40 employees, effective June 30.

Paula Schnelly, who heads the union that represents 36 of the impacted workers, spoke on behalf of the employees before Thursday’s vote. Most of the workers did not attend, she said, because they had to take care of clients, were fearful of humiliation or had lost hope.

“I take this all very personally. If you see me shaking up here, it’s because this is really, really hard and difficult,” said Schnelly, of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees Local 1398, known as AFSCME.

Schnelly said the board has not been transparent as it maintains, and she alleged the board is involved in conflicts of interest and “collusion and self interest.”

The board has awarded contracts to companies connected to work force board members at the county and state level, she said.

“I’ve seen the ratification of contracts by this board after the companies have already performed the duties and already been paid,” Schnelly said.

She told the board she is not going away.

“This is not over, and I will personally continue on my own -- even if these employees lose their jobs -- to monitor each and every bit of your behavior from this day forward,” Schnelly said.

“You should all be ashamed of yourselves.”

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