UE Local 222, the statewide amalgamated UE local representing municipal and board of education workers in Connecticut, settled new contracts in Wethersfield and Trumbull last fall.
Just south of Hartford, in central Connecticut, Sublocals 81 (supervisors) and 82 (non-supervisors) settled new contracts at the Wethersfield Library. Wages will increase two percent in each of the first two years and half a percent in the third year, with step increases in the second and third years. The defined benefit pension benefit will increase by a quarter of a percent in the second and third years, and supplemental retirement benefits will increase from 4.5 to 6 percent over the life of the contract, with the town and employees each contributing the same percentage of the employee’s gross salary.
There will be no increase to workers’ share of the health insurance premiums over the life of the contract. Because the town switched insurance to a less expensive plan, UE members will not only avoid the anticipated 12 percent increase in the total cost of their group health insurance premiums but the cost of those premiums is anticipated to go down by about two percent.
Saturday schedules will now be created in four-month increments so members can plan their weekends, and vacation time can now be taken in half-hour increments.
The negotiating committee consisted of Sublocal 81 President Ellen Harzewski, Sublocal 82 President Brienne Tripp, Sublocal 82 Treasurer Elaine Zieller and Elizabeth Morinn, Sublocal 81. They were assisted by Field Organizer Sherry Bryant.
In the town of Trumbull, just north of Bridgeport in the southwestern part of the state, Sublocal 21 negotiated new three-year contracts covering two bargaining units, supervisors and support staff, at the Trumbull Board of Education. Wages will increase by two percent in each of the first two years and 2.25 percent in the final year. Members of the support staff unit will also receive step increases. The sublocal held the increase in workers’ share of insurance premiums to three percent over three years, and added language about insurance and retirees’ health insurance that had been missing from previous agreements back into the contract. The contract also increases the “illness or death in the family” benefits for immediate family by an extra day.
The Sublocal 21 negotiating committee consisted of Supervisors President Dawn Perkins, Support Staff President Jeffery VanSteenburgh, and Jeffery Hackett. They were also assisted by Field Organizer Bryant.