09:49:05 04-Jul-2009
Council again rejects new union contract
Oct. 1--NEWBURYPORT -- Mayor John Moak will begin negotiations again with the city's American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, after the City Council rejected for a second time a request to fund the terms of a new contract.
The council initially rejected a transfer to cover the costs of the new agreement in August. Moak approached the council earlier this month and asked them to reconsider their actions.
But councilors Monday narrowly rejected the new agreement in a split 5 to 5 vote. Councilor Greg Earls was absent.
"It was a conservative union contract," Moak said following the vote.
Under the terms of the agreement, the employees' base wages would have increased by 2 percent. The deal also included a $600-per-year "clothing allowance" for full-time employees and a $300-to $400-per-year clothing allowance for part-time employees, depending on the number of hours worked. Public works employees would get an additional $200 boot allowance per year.
Changes to sick leave/vacation time would mean less sick leave credit with more vacation time -- the maximum reaching six weeks' vacation for employees who have worked for the city for 15 years or more.
The AFSCME union includes Department of Public Services, library and City Hall employees.
Moak said he understands the concerns of the councilors in regard to the clothing allowance but reiterated his stance that it was a unique way to give employee benefits at a set cost each year, rather than costs that would multiply over time.
Moak said he does not plan to pursue a clothing allowance again but might consider an option such as a shift deferential, whereby employees who work on weekends or nights get paid a higher wage.
In negotiating a contract, the mayor said, it must be a fair deal for employees while also keeping in line with what the city can afford.
Voting in favor of funding the contract were Councilors Ed Cameron, Barry Connell, Tom O'Brien, James Shanley and Larry McCavitt. Voting against were Councilors Brian Derrivan, Donna Holaday, Steve Hutcheson, Kathleen O'Connor Ives and Tom Jones.
O'Brien, the Ward 6 councilor who voted against the transfer during the last vote, said he changed his mind after learning more about the clothing allowance. The allowance is already granted to most employees in the union who are in the Public Services department, he said, and the union president worked to get the same for all his membership.
"These are the lowest paid employees in our city," O'Brien said.
Holaday, an at-large councilor, called the 2 percent pay raise "very reasonable" but said outstanding issues with the contract have not been resolved and need to be looked at further, such as concerns with the clothing reimbursement.
Councilor-at-large Jones said he's "consistently been critical of raises in these economic times" and that the City Council must meet the concerns of taxpayers.
"The cost of government continues to escalate," Jones said.
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2008-10-01 09:40:28 (last modified)