Seymour Town Hall employees will not have any furlough days or layoffs — and will receive raises over the next two years.
The details are part of the town hall union’s new contract, signed by First Selectman Paul Roy in April.
The contract goes into effect on July 1, 2011 and runs through June 30, 2013.
The town hall employees union — Local 1303-240 of Council 4 AFSCME — includes assistant department heads, administrative assistants, reference librarians, town clerks and part-time employees at Town Hall.
It includes some people who work outside of the building, such as the police chief’s secretary, senior center workers and public works assistants.
Roy said he used the no-furlough day and no layout promise to get the union to agree to new health insurance plans that would save the town money in co-pays and prescription costs.
“The goal was to get money back on the health benefits side, because that’s where we could get the biggest savings,” Roy said Thursday.
Roy estimated the town saved about $60,000 over the two-year contract through the health insurance savings.
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Town Hall Union Contract 2011 – 2013
The three Republican members of the Board of Selectmen voted against the contract.
Republican Selectman W. Kurt Miller, who has announced he will run against Roy for First Selectmen, said the promise of no furlough days and no layoffs makes it hard for the Board of Finance to tweak the budget if the town has problems getting a proposal passed in the future.
“It hinders the town’s ability if the budgets don’t pass,” Miller said. “There’s nothing creative we can do without going back to the union. I don’t want to go laying people off, but we have to look at the big picture.”
The town used furlough days to cut its budget in 2010 – 2011. Town Hall employees and members of the administrators union agreed to four unpaid days off in order to save the town money.
Roy said the wording doesn’t tie the town’s hands.
“If you get to the situation where dollars aren’t there, you can approach the unions to see if we can work something out,” Roy said.
Other Contract Details
The contract also includes an end to longevity pay (or bonuses for length of service).
In 2011 – 2012, the union employees will receive a 2 percent raise, and in 2012 – 2013, they will receive a 2.5 percent raise. Roy said the health insurance savings will offset the cost of the pay raises.
The workers will also receive a one-time pay increase of 55 cents in exchange for the elimination of longevity pay.
The 55-cent increase will bump up the employees’ base pay going forward.
A separate contract for the administrators union also ends longevity pay bonuses for those workers starting in 2011 – 2012.
Finance Director Doug Thomas said the two unions combined will save $11,770 in longevity payments in the upcoming year. That figure does not account for the increase in pay used to negotiate the longevity pay elimination.
