AUBURN — The City Council is set to approve a new labor contract Monday with the union that represents Auburn Public Services employees, after months of negotiations that featured a picket line at Auburn Hall in May.
The Teamsters Local Union No. 340 represents about 50 employees, many of whom gathered on May 15 to protest “substandard” wages, holding signs that said “A fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay,” and “Make Auburn Great Again, Pay Auburn PW Workers.”
During the workers’ protest, the union’s business agent, Ray Cote, said the union was told to choose between an annual wage increase and the union’s health care proposal.
At the time, a representative for the union called the current wages a “travesty.”
Contract negotiations began in February, and the Teamsters’ contract expired June 30.
According to a memo included in Monday’s agenda, the proposed contract is consistent with “the desire of the (City) Council to hold to a 2 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) for employees.” It also eliminates the “Operator 2” employee classification, which “will over time save the city upwards of $20,000 annually.”
The union will also remain on the City PPO 500 health care plan, according to the memo.
Walter Reynolds, a veteran plow operator in Auburn, said in May that the city has continually promised wage increases, with no results. The union was pushing for a 3 percent cost of living adjustment, which would increase wages by that percentage in each year of the contract.
He said many employees have been leaving Auburn to join public works departments in other communities.
The new contract will be effective until June 30, 2020.
Following the demonstration in May, City Manager Peter Crichton proposed taking a long look at how Auburn compares to other municipalities when it comes to paying its employees.
During budget talks that month, Crichton rearranged the manager’s office budget in order to allocate $40,000 for the compensation study, which he said could take a few months.
Depending on the results, the city will use the information during next year’s budget talks, possibly spreading out any wage increases over a number of years, he said.
