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SALEM -- The utilities commission approved a new contract with the union representing department employees in its meeting Sept. 17.
The commissioners unanimously approved a new collective bargaining agreement with Utilities Workers Union of America AFL/CIO Local 560, the union which represents the city's utilities workers. The contract was previously approved by the city council in its Sept. 15 meeting, leaving the commissioners to grant approval on behalf of the department itself, which operates as a semi-autonomous entity with its own governing board and budget.
The agreement has a term of three years and will see the affected employees receive a 4% raise in year one and a 3% raise in years two and three. The new agreement will also implement a shift differential of one dollar per hour and add a new line item for an additional 40 cents per hour for qualifying employees to attend and complete certification training rather than reimbursing them after the fact like the department has in the past.
Utilities Commission Chair Bob Hodgson said that the contract will also increase the limit for the number of overtime hours represented employees can bank from 40 to 60 per year, bringing the utilities department "closer in line" with the city's other department. Hodgson explained that when employees work overtime, like when they come in on their off time to repair a water line break or assist with an emergency, they can either take that overtime pay immediately, or defer the hours worked to be paid out later in the year like PTO.
Hodgson said that other changes include language clarifications, primarily in the sections outlining employee vacation time, and a shift to a new insurance plan with a higher deductible.
The commissioners also voted unanimously to extend the same benefits, and annual pay rises to the department's administrative staff. Hodgson said that historically it has been the department's standard practice after approving a new union agreement to extend any newly negotiated benefits to the members of its management team, who are not represented by the union and would not otherwise receive those benefits.
The utilities commission will meet next at 3 p.m. on Oct. 15 at the wastewater treatment plant board room.