Borough officials OK raises for nonunion workers

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By Andreas Yilma, Staff Writer

NAUGATUCK — The Joint Boards of Mayor and Burgesses and Board of Finance Sept. 8 approved salary increases for 23 nonunion workers.

The positions include several high-level jobs, including police chief, deputy police chief, and controller, as well as 10 part-time positions and the borough’s two registrars of voters.

The increases range from 2% to 7.25% and totaled $24,309.

Monetarily, the raises range from $94, or 2.25%, for the registrars of voters to $2,767, or 2.25%, for Police Chief Steven Hunt.

Human Resource Director John Lawlor said some of the larger increases percentage-wise — those over 2.25% — are due to the state minimum wage increasing to $15 an hour by June 2023. Officials averaged the increase over the next three years to make sure positions paid minimum wage will get $15 an hour by June 2023, he said.

Lawlor said other larger percentage increases were to make the jobs, including part-time dispatchers, more competitive in the market place and to help attract and retain employees.

Most of the raises were approved unanimously, though there was some discussion on a few.

Burgesses Jan Joseph Mizeski and Rocky Vitale and Board of Finance member Robert Burke voted against a $2,585 raise for Controller Allyson Bruce. They believed Bruce deserved a higher raise than 2.15% due to her receiving an exemplary performance review.

Vitale and Mizeski voted against a $1,621, or 2%, raise for Public Works Superintendent Robert Roland and believed he deserved more for his work.

The joint boards’ action came about a month after the Board of Education approved raises for 29 nonunion workers totaling $33,998.

The positions included the district’s internet technology director, business manager, nurses, IT staff, administrative assistants and security personal, according to the minutes of the Board of Education’s Aug. 13 meeting.

The increases ranged from 2% to 2.5%, and from $312, or 2%, for a security position to $2,347, or 2.5%, for Business Manager Bernice Rizk.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the percentage amount for raises approved for the registrars of voters, Police Chief Steven Hunt, school security position and school Business Manager Bernice Rizk.