All Town Unions,

Staff Accept Wage Freeze

By John Voket

First Selectman Joe Borst announced Tuesday that all town labor units as well as salaried town employees have agreed to take a voluntary wage freeze in the 2009-2010 fiscal year. Mr Borst contacted The Bee following a Board of Selectmen meeting April 20 during which the Police Department union’s agreement to a proposed contract was discussed.

While selectmen have yet to ratify the new police contract, the union was still committed to joining other town local labor units in solidarity over the action. The agreement does not include teachers or other school district units, according to Mr Borst.

“This means five unions and all nonunion employees, approximately 180 in all, either through agreements or under directive will not be receiving a wage increase for the 2009-2010 budget year,” Mr Borst said in a prepared release.

The first selectman said the parks and recreation union’s nine members agreed to open their existing contract; the public works union’s 37 members agreed to amend an extension; the town hall union’s 40 members agreed to extend their contract due to expire in July; the dispatch and clerical union’s 13 members agreed to extend their contract due to expire in July; and the police union’s 47 members have ratified pending Board of Selectman approval a three-year contract with a zero wage increase for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

“Nonunion employees which includes department heads, deputies, at-will, and confidential employees will also not receive a wage increase,” Mr Borst said. “It is our hope that by all bargaining units collectively agreeing to forgo pay increases, avoiding layoffs and thereby not reducing services to the public, the action could have a positive impact on the referendum outcome. I commend each of our employees for not only considering their members. but taking into account the current economic climate.”

In accepting wage freezes, the action restores taxpayer services that would have been affected by job cuts in each of the units. Those job cuts would have achieved the same bottom line outcome in the payroll lines of the town-side budget, according to Newtown Finance Director Robert Tait.