Mayor, Unions Reach Tentative Agreements - Courant.com

Mayor, Unions Reach Tentative Agreements - Courant.com: "Mayor, Unions Reach Tentative Agreements"

Mayor Jason McCoy has reached tentative, three-year labor agreements with three of the four unions representing at least 57 town employees who will not receive a raise in first year of the agreement.The agreements cover three Water Pollution Control Authority and seven Department of Public Works supervisors and town staff professionals. WPCA supervisors will receive a 3 percent salary hike over the life of the agreement; DPW supervisors, 2 percent; and the professionals, 2.5 percent.The agreements also freeze the value of sick days at their present level for town employees hired after 1998, increase employee contributions for preferred provider organization health coverage to 18 percent and a slight increase for HMOs. Also, anyone hired after January 2010 will not be included in the current pension plan but will be offered a 457 plan (similar to a 401(k)) which includes a 50 percent contribution match by the town up to 4 percent of the employee's salary.Also, town employees seeking shared payments from the town covering the cost of college course tuition will have to maintain a "B" average, instead of current "C" requirement.McCoy said the agreements, which took a lot of compromise to reach, were shaped in large part by the poor economy that has cut into town revenues. They also will help reduce the possibility of layoffs, he said.Contract talks with the union representing secretaries in the Department of Public Works remain in arbitration, McCoy said.


— Joseph A. O'Brien Jr.