2 Long-Stalled Union Contracts Approved

Over 800 city workers have a contract for the first time in nearly three years, now that the Board of Alders has approved two key labor agreements that grant long-awaited raises to public employees.

On Monday evening in the Aldermanic Chamber on the second floor of City Hall, the Board of Alders unanimously approved proposed contracts with AFSCME Locals 884 and 3144, unions that cover about 400 city employees each. 

The Local 884 contract, covering ​“clerical workers” including housing inspectors, school security guards, 911 dispatchers, parking and traffic enforcement officers, and library technicians, will cover five years from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2025. Over that period, the contract implements a 3 percent annual raise, starting retroactively in 2020.

It also increases the retirement age from 62 to 65, requires a healthcare contribution of 1.5 percent of members’ annual salaries, and extends school security guards’ calendars from 10 months to 12 months per year.

The contract will cost the city an additional $3 to $3.5 million.

“The pay increases will bring a better way of life for a lot of people,” wrote 884 President Kymberly Bray in a Monday press release. ​“Instead of working at another job for an extra couple of days, they will be able to make up for that money with one job. That means more time with their families.”

The agreement with Local 3144, meanwhile, will extend for six years from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2026. It will affect ​“management” employees including legal assistants, accountants, public works forepersons, engineers, city planners, building inspectors, and elderly services specialists among many other roles.

All union members will receive an 18 percent cumulative raise in the form of retroactive and future cost-of-living increases. The agreement will also advance current employees two steps forward on a ten-step salary scale, meaning that employees at step 8 or below will receive about a 30 percent raise in total.

In total, these salary increases will cost the city about $18.4 million.

About 38 employees in Local 3144 who are currently classified in steps 9 and 10 will not see as much of a raise; those employees will receive a one-time $1,000 bonus instead. 

When Board of Alders Finance Committee alders deliberated on this contract in late May, some union members decried the fact that employees at the highest steps will not receive the same degree of what they argued was a necessary and overdue raise; others urged alders to approve the contract, which was ratified by a vote of 196 to 40.

“The salary increases will assist in the betterment of many members who have been unable to cover their basic needs. Those who have been here for the last 30 years have not received a step increase since 1998,” wrote 3144 President Gildemar Herrera in a press release. ​“This contract also continues to support the longer-serving employees through the benefit of longevity.”

Finance Committee Chair and Westville Alder Adam Marchand encouraged his colleagues to approve both contracts.

The raises afforded in both contracts will help the city’s efforts to recruit and retain its workforce during a time of widespread vacancies, Marchand argued.

Finance Committee member and East Rock Alder Anna Festa also spoke up in support of both contracts, but acknowledged that in the case of the Local 3144 agreement, several union members testified against the approval in protest of lower raises afforded to employees at steps 9 and 10.

“It had been a very long time since they had this contract,” she added. ​“Because of the majority, I recommend that my colleagues” vote yes.

Both contracts passed unanimously.

In a press release, Mayor Justin Elicker praised the negotiators, including Labor Relations Director Wendella Ault Battey. ​“These new contracts will provide our employees with a well-deserved raise, secure savings for the City, and help us to retain and attract high-quality employees in the future to keep our city running and moving forward,” he wrote.