New contract for supervisors in place

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NaugatuckCtTownSeal

NAUGATUCK — The Board of Mayor and Burgesses approved a three-year agreement Dec. 18 for Local 2001 Service Employees International Union.

The contract begins retroactively from July 1 and runs through June 30, 2016. The deal includes both pay raises as well as savings from changes to the health care plan.

The union represents 15 supervisors in the borough, including the building inspector, zoning enforcement officer, director of the Visiting Nurses Association and director of Youth and Family Services.

According to the agreement, union members will receive a 2.15 percent wage increase the first two years of the deal and a 2.25 percent increase in the final year.

Under the contract, union members have two choices for heath care — a preferred provider organization and the high deductible health plan.

Beginning on Jan. 1 the premium cost share for members enrolled in the PPO plan will increase from 8 percent to 9 percent. The premium cost share will rise to 10 percent on July 1, 2014 and to 11.5 percent on July 1, 2015.

As part of the changes to the high deductible health plan, the percentage of the deductibles paid by union members will increase. Beginning Jan. 1, 2014 members will pay 25 percent of the deductible. That percentage increases to 35 percent on Jan. 1, 2015, then to 50 percent on Jan. 1, 2016.

The contract also implements health care cost sharing for union members in the high deductible health plan

Beginning in 2015, union members take on 4 percent of their health care costs and in 2015 it increases to 6 percent.

In addition, the Borough agreed to increase the longevity payments by $50 over existing rates. The longevity payment schedule is $200 for those with 10 years of service and over, $300 for those with 20 years of service and over and $400 for those with 30 years of service and over.

The wage increases will total $161,182 over the life of the contract, while the health care changes are estimated to save $36,819. The net financial impact of the agreement is $124,363, according to borough officials.

Mayor Robert Mezzo said the contract is consistent with agreements the borough has reached with other unions, which combine “modest wage increases with concessions on the health care.”

“I think that given the climate that exists for negotiating contracts in Connecticut that it’s a fair agreement for both the bargaining unit and the borough,” Mezzo said.

Mezzo said the contract also allows the borough to conduct performance evaluations on supervisors for the first time.

According to the agreement, evaluations will be done on an annual basis by the immediate supervisor or department head or the employees.

Assistant Tax Collector, Louise Sheedy, who is president of the union, said all members supported the deal.

“I felt it was a good deal,” Sheedy said. “I think the town was very fair to us.”