Red Cross workers possibly going on strike; blood drive canceled

CLEVELAND - Local Red Cross workers may be hitting the picket line today, affecting about 250 union members in Northeast Ohio.

The contract for union members, Teamsters Local 507, expired at 3 a.m. We have not heard of any agreement.

The union issued a work stoppage yesterday if any agreement wasn't made. There is no word on exact sticking points.

A spokesperson for the Red Cross called a strike “irresponsible.”

Because of the possible strike, a Valentine's Day blood drive at Landerhaven scheduled for today is being canceled. But the Red Cross says even though that drive collected one-thousand pints of blood last year, the overall supply is still strong.

"We definitely want to assure not only donors but family and patients that we are going to provide the blood that's needed, we are working on contingency plans,” said Christy Sabaka, a Red Cross spokesperson. “We do have our national system that we can draw on. But we are going to continue business as usual; no one needs to be concerned we are here to serve the community."

In a statement, the Red Cross said it has offered contract proposals consistent with the pay and benefits provided to non-union staff but they didn't elaborate. They said more blood drives already planned could be affected by this strike.

They urged people to keep checking their website or call the local office for updates at 1-800-Red-Cross.