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Minutes 05/12/2009
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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL & WPC AUTHORITY MAY 12, 2009
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A SPECIAL MEETING of the City Council & WPC Authority was held in the Senior Center Main Room on Tuesday, May 12, 2009.
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Present were Mayor Ryan J. Bingham, City Councilors Michael Colangelo, Elinor Carbone, Thomas Jerram, and Drake Waldron, President of Local 1579 Joseph Manes, President of Local 818 Martin Connor, and Personnel Director Thomas Gritt. |
Mayor Bingham called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m.
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Atty. Victor Muschell, the city's labor consultant, explained that the unions were approached to see if they could help out with the budget this year.
He said Local 818, agreed to forego the planned wage increase that was due July 1, 2009, have their contract extended for a year with a 3.5% general wage increase July 1, 2010, a $1000 a one-time increase and a 5.5% increase in insurance premium cost.
Atty. Muschell added that city hall employees were in contract negotiation and arbitration, but pending arbitration was cancelled and a contract expiring on June 30, 2011 with 3.5% wage increase effective 2008 was settled upon. This includes a zero wage increase on July 1, 2009, he said, and a 3.5% wage increase effective July 1, 2010. Atty. Muschell said step increases will not be frozen and insurance will remain the same until July, 2010, when it will go up to 7%. He said that city hall employees agreed on an optional health savings account, and a 2% increase used for calculating pension should someone wish to retire during
this time.
Atty. Muschell continued to say public works employees agreed to extend their contract for two years to June 30, 2011. They agreed to no wage increase on July 1, 2009, but effective July 1, 2010, there will be a 3.5% wage increase, he said, and they also agreed on insurance, a health savings account and a 2% increase used for calculating pension.
Atty. Muschell said public works employees were offered, in a separate agreement, an early retirement incentive plan for people over 55 years of age with 25 years of service. He said this would add 4 years of either age or years of service or a combination, enhancing the pension benefit, and allowing the city to create attrition in the department.
Mr. Gritt said the estimated savings to the budget so far is $345,593; the voluntary early retirement incentive plan has a potential savings of $232,224, with a total of $578,000.
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Mayor Bingham thanked everyone for coming to the table initially and ultimately coming back with a successful and positive agreement. He said it was incredibly significant.
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Mr. Connor said clearly this is an extraordinary time in Torrington's history, and it was very difficult for the people in his bargaining unit to do this; but they didn't want to force the city to lay people off. Even losing one person in his department, he said, would make a major difference in the level of service they provide. Mr. Connor said they agreed to forego this raise and hopefully things will be much better next year; they felt it was important for the citizens of Torrington.
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Manes thanked the Mayor and his staff and said overall the vote went very well. Hopefully the city can avoid some layoffs, he said, and that the $500,000 savings works out for the city.
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Atty. Muschell added that the city couldn't guarantee in writing that there would be no layoffs; they hope it can be avoided |
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Mayor Bingham said 188 employees have taken a zero percent wage increase representing 70% of our total city work force, excluding the Board of Education. He said the dispatchers haven't voted yet and the police have declined, but will be asked to reconsider. Mayor Bingham said this shows that all of our employees value their jobs, understand the impact of their salaries on our taxpayers, and reaffirms the fact that we do have great employees that work for the city.
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LABOR AGREEMENT #538 On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Colangelo, the Council voted unanimously to approve the tentative agreement between the City of Torrington and AFSCME, Council 4, Local 818, and the tentative agreements between the City of Torrington and AFSCME, Council 4, Local 1579, Public Works and City Hall.
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ADJOURNMENT #549 On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to adjourn at 6:20 p.m.
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ATTEST: STEPHEN NOCERA, ADMIN.ASST. TO THE MAYOR_ TRANSCRIBED: CAROL ANDERSON, ASST. CITY CLERK
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