Police Union And Town Approve Three-Year Contract

By Andrew Gorosko

The police union and the town have signed a new labor contract covering 45 sworn police officers who will receive no pay increases during the second year of the three-year work pact.

The agreement between the town and Newtown Police Union, Local #3153, Council #15, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, extends to June 30, 2011.

Police have been working without a new contract since last July 1, thus the work agreement is retroactive to July 1, 2008. Contract talks started in February 2008.

The police chief and the police captain have separate labor contracts with the town and are not police union members.

Police Union Treasurer Domenic Costello, who was a member of the union’s negotiating team, said that police will receive a retroactive three percent pay raise for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Police will receive no pay raise for the fiscal year running from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010, he said. For the third fiscal year of the agreement, police will receive a two percent wage hike for the first six months of that fiscal year, and then another two percent pay increase for the second six months of that fiscal year, Sergeant Costello said.

“We want to show that we’re willing to sacrifice [financially] for the betterment of the town,” Sgt Costello said of the wage freeze in the second year of the three-year agreement.

“It’s a very fair contract, no big winners, no big losers…The town and the union worked together to come up with a very fair contract for both sides,” he said.

“The union and the town have a good working relationship,” Sgt Costello noted.

Police Chief Michael Kehoe, who was on the town’s negotiating team, said, “It’s a fair agreement that meets the needs of the community, the organization, and the employees.”

“The union was sensitive to [financial] issues facing the United States and the town, and stepped up to the plate…forgoing raises” during the second year of the pact, the police chief said.

Chief Kehoe said he was not surprised that police were willing to eliminate pay hikes in the second year of the agreement. That one-year wage freeze seeks to prevent police layoffs from occurring, he said.

“We go to the bargaining table and try to come to an agreement… There’s always give-and-take,” he said.

The bargaining process included two mediation sessions, he said. The town and the union conducted about ten bargaining meetings, he said.

In the face of upwardly spiraling medical costs, the police union agreed to increase its members’ contributions toward medical insurance coverage as well as its members’ co-pay amounts for medical services, he said.

“Working together with the union, we [town] accomplished quite a bit,” Chief Kehoe said.

The 53-page contract covers 33 separate topics governing police work through June 30, 2011. A 35-page set of the police department’s rules and regulations accompanies the contract.

Under the terms of the agreement, the starting pay for a police patrol officer retroactively increases from $44,895 to $46,242 in the current fiscal year. Starting pay remains at that level for the next fiscal year.

During the first half of the 2010-11 fiscal year, that pay would increase to $47,167, and during the second half of that fiscal year, the pay would increase to $49,092.