Ohio's largest state employee union says it's reached a tentative deal with state officials to extend its current contract until 2015.
Leaders in the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association credited last week's defeat of a contentious collective bargaining law with allowing them to better negotiate their contract.
The tentative agreement will retain all current contract provisions between the union and the state. It doesn't include furlough days or personal leave that were in the current agreement that is set to expire at the end of February.
State employees under the contract wouldn't see a general wage increase, but automatic step increases to wages that are a part of current law would apply.
The repealed collective bargaining law would have done away with those increases and based pay on performance.