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SALEM -- City council approved two new union contracts in its meeting Tuesday.
Following a near hour-long executive session for the discussion of personnel matters council unanimously approved collective bargaining agreements with Salem Firefighters Local 283 of the International Association of Firefighters, and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 2701, which represents employees of the street, traffic and safety, and parks departments as well as some city hall personnel.
Councilman Jim Harrington, who chairs the city's finance committee, said that he had reviewed both agreements and felt they were "a fair and equitable contract for both the city and the union."
Both contracts will have a term of three years beginning retroactive to July 1.
Mayor Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey said that the agreement for the fire department included an initial market equity raise which will raise the base pay of the department's firefighters to the market average to help address staffing challenges. Following that initial increase, union employees will receive a 2% raise annually for the next three years.
Dickey said that the AFSCME contract will receive an initial 3% raise followed by a 2% raise in year two and a minimum 2% raise in year three. Like the contract for the police union before it, the agreement also includes a wage-reopener in year three to potentially increase that figure based on the financial status of the city when that time comes.
Dickey said that the agreement also includes increases to the wage differential for those employees whose job requires them to hold a commercial driver's license, which she noted followed similar differential increases nationwide. Dickey said that the differential will increase from its current rate of 65 cents per hour to $1.50 per hour next year and increase again in 2028 to $2.50 per hour.
Council will meet next at 7 p.m. on Aug. 4.