Police And Town Reach Three-Year Contract Accord

By Andrew Gorosko

The police union and the town have agreed to a three-year labor contract that takes effect on Friday, July 1. The pact provides pay increases, but requires increased police contributions toward health benefits.

Under the terms of the 50-page agreement, the 44 police officers covered by the pact will receive 1.75 percent, 1.85  percent, and 1.9 percent pay increases during the three successive fiscal years of the contract.

Police are represented by the Newtown Police Union, Local #3153, Council #15, AFSCME, AFL-CIO.

The two sworn members of the police department who are not covered by the contract are the chief and the captain, each of whom have separate work agreements with the town.

Scott Ruszczyk, police union president, said that First Selectman Pat Llodra, who headed the town’s negotiating team, was “fair and reasonable” in the contract talks.

Officer Ruszczyk noted that while police will receive pay raises, they will pay more toward their health insurance costs. What formerly had been a flat-rate union member cost for health insurance will become based upon a percentage of the cost for health coverage, he said.

In the 2010-11 fiscal year, police officers paid $56.50 per paycheck toward individual medical insurance coverage  premiums. That amount will increase by $5 per paycheck in the first year of the new contract.

But in the second  year and the third year of the contract, officers would pay 10 percent and 11 percent of their insurance costs, respectively. Medical coverage that includes spouses and families is higher than for individuals. Police are paid biweekly.

Officer Ruszczyk noted that the medical co-pay amounts that police will cover will increase under the new pact. Also, the disability benefits which are payable under workman’s compensation are reduced overall, he said.

Officer Ruszczyk noted that in the 18 years he has worked as a town police officer, this was the first police labor pact that police and the town settled before the preceding contract had expired. In the past, police contracts  typically were not settled until well after the preceding work agreements had expired.

“It’s a good agreement. It’s not a great agreement,” he said. “I would say my membership is ‘content’ with it, but ‘happy’ is too strong a word,” he said.

Mrs Llodra said that police union members have agreed to assume more of the costs for their health insurance while agreeing to a medical plan that provides less coverage.

In the contract talks, police understood that the town has limited resources, Mrs Llodra said.

The various work contracts that are being negotiated by the town are similar in nature, she said. The town is seeking to control costs, she said. “We’re trying to fair, but realistic,” she added.

Under the terms of the new contract, the starting pay for a newly hired patrol officer in the 2011-12 fiscal year will be $48,934. That pay would increase to $67,978 on the fifth step of the patrol officer’s pay scale.