Cuyahoga County Developmental Disabilities Board Workers Vote to Strike in Coming Weeks

The offices of the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities on Lakeside Avenue downtown. Its unionized workers voted to strike some time in the upcoming weeks. Credit: Google

Workers at the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities voted last week indicating that they’re ready to strike in the coming weeks.

Those employees, who are members of Service Employees International Union District 1199, said that a dozen meetings with the county in the past six months have failed to produce what they frame as a fair contract.

Located off Lakeside Avenue downtown, CCBDD often helps kids and young adults manage developmental disabilities—autism, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, deafness—and help secure jobs.

In a statement released Tuesday, union reps claimed that rampant understaffing at the department has led to high caseloads “impossible to dedicate enough time to.” Which, in turn, means clients in need don’t find sufficient help to walk away fulfilled.

“The last thing these dedicated public servants want is to engage in any activity that could delay, even for a single day, the services that those in Cuyahoga County with special needs deserve,” SEIU District 1199 wrote in that press released.

“Unfortunately, CCBDD is leaving them no choice and is refusing to bargain in good faith,” they added.

The date of the strike is pending.