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SALEM -- City council approved a new union contract for the utilities department at its meeting Tuesday.
Following an approximately 20-minute executive session for the discussion of pending contractual negotiations, council 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.
With the agreement's approval, Salem has completed new contracts with all four unions representing city employees. New contracts with the Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council, Salem Firefighters Local 283 of the International Association of Firefighters, and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2701, which covers the service department, traffic and safety, some city hall personnel and the parks department, were previously approved in July.
Like the preceding contracts, the agreement with Utilities Workers Union of America AFL/CIO Local 560 will have a term of three years.
Utilities Commission Chair Bob Hodgson said that represented employees will receive a 4% raise in year one and a 3% raise in years two and three. However, unlike the agreements with the other unions, there is no wage re-opener in the third year of the agreement.
The new agreement will also implement a shift differential of one dollar per hour, as well as adding 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.
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.
Council will meet next at 7 p.m. on Oct. 13.