2009

Posted by Bob on August 5, 2009 under Daily Blogs | Be the First to Comment

The Board of Mayor and Burgesses voted unanimously to approve a three (3) year extension of the Firefighters Local 1219 collective bargaining agreement on Tuesday’s (8/4/2009) meeting. A copy of the Memorandum of Agreement (”MOA”) may be viewed here.

The significant highlights of the agreement are as follows:

Wages:

No wage increase for this fiscal year (2009 – 2010);
A one and one half (1.5%) percent increase effective as of July 1, 2010 with an additional one and one half (1.5%) percent increase effective as of January 1, 2011; and
A one and one half (1.5%) percent increase effective as of July 1, 2011 with an additional one and one half (1.5%) percent increase effective as of January 1, 2012.

Health Care

No changes to existing plans were made.

Pension

No changes to existing plans were made.

Sick Time

Members of the bargaining unit will be allowed to cash-out an additional ten (10) sick days upon retirement. Said additional sick days may not be used to calculate pensions.

Uniform Allowance

Members of the bargaining unit will receive an additional FIFTY and 00/100THS ($50.00) DOLLARS for uniform allowance per year.

Drug Testing

The negotiating teams will meet no later than September 1, 2009, to continue negotiations establishing a drug testing policy for the department.

The cost of wage projections may be viewed here. The following documents, with names redacted, projects the costs of the additional ten (10) day, sick day payout.

Our administration would like to thank Local 1219 for negotiating in a respectful and responsible manner during these difficult economic times. Both sides negotiated with knowledge that nothing had been budgeted this year for wage increases. It is unlikely the Borough would have received a zero (0%) percent increase during year one (1) if a contract was decided through arbitration.

Splitting the wage increases for years two (2) and three (3) into two (2) installments allows the Borough to save taxpayers funds in the first (1st) half of both years.