By Gregory Korte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Middle-management employees of the city of Cincinnati voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to create a new labor union.

The vote was 507-94 to accept the Cincinnati Organized and Dedicated Employees as the new bargaining representative for 808 professional, technical and supervisory employees of the city, the director of the State Employment Relations Board said Wednesday.

In a separate question, professional and non-professional employees voted to join with the other group to form one bargaining unit.

Mayor Charlie Luken said he welcomes the new union. Other city employees are already represented by the Fraternal Order of Police, the Cincinnati Firefighters Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

"The existence of the union, from my perspective, is not a bad thing," Luken said. "Life is going to continue to change for people in city service, and this will give us an opportunity to address those changes in one forum."

A number of grievances led the middle managers to form the new union: overtime cuts by City Manager Valerie Lemmie, threatened layoffs in the 2003-2004 budget, and larger-than-budgeted wage increases for union-represented police and firefighters.

Under state law, the city has 10 days to challenge the results. That challenge seems unlikely, since only 17 ballots are in dispute - not enough to change the outcome.

Once the state board certifies the results, the city must begin wage talks with the new union. Union officials say they hope to have a contract by the end of the year.

E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com