5-2-12: Courtesy of WIVB. BUFFALO, NY (WIVB) – How do your benefits stack up against county workers? Six years ago, we brought the story of how some county workers were enjoying almost double the time off than the private sector. Local leaders promised changes and News 4 is seeing if they followed through. Six years ago, Erie County employees were working the equivalent of eight weeks less than their counterparts in the private sector. Joel Giambra’s priority at the time? “To reduce the number of hours that county employees do not work,” he said. Six years later, not much has changed for CSEA county workers with seniority. They’re still under the same contract, and work 360 hours a year less – that’s nine weeks less -than the private sector, according to the County Personnel Department. Personnel Commissioner John Greenan said, “You’re dealing with union contracts, and that’s something that has to be negotiated with those unions, and obviously their role is to protect their workers.” County workers receive 32 hours more of paid holiday time and 120 more hours when it comes to combined personal, vacation, and sick leave time under the old contract terms. But unlike the private sector, county workers do not get disability insurance. “If we get sick,” says Nora Macy, who works in the Buffalo Erie County Library’s Human Resources Department, “we gotta use your sick time. You’ve got to bank it because we don’t get the same kind of benefits the private sector does.” Over the

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