By Adam Swift
The city council unanimously approved a new three-year contract for the union representing the city’s department of public works employees at its meeting Monday night.
The contract runs through the end of June, 2027 and calls for a 3 percent raise for employees for each year of the contract. The contract also increases some stipends and the clothing allowance for employees.
“We are excited that we were able to sit down and simply talk over a few sessions and go over our ideas on making sure that we were able to represent the city and also represent the employees and get to reach a good deal that we are both happy with,” said Mayor Patrick Keefe.
The mayor noted that the negotiations were done in-house without having to bring in outside counsel. He also said the city and union were able to negotiate allowing the public works to do some more concrete work and cleaning services in-house.
“It goes to show that we are able to save the city a lot of money by being able to give them the work, giving the talented people in the city the work to do rather than having to outsource it,” said Keefe.
Steve Penta, the local union president for the DPW, thanked Keefe and his administration for bargaining in good faith and coming to a fair agreement on the contract.
Ward 4 Councillor and former DPW director Paul Argenzio said he believed the agreement is an excellent one for the DPW and the city.
“I want to thank Mayor Keefe for looking out for the guys at the DPW,” Argenzio said.
Several councillors thanked the DPW employees for their hard work and responsiveness to concerns.
“Any time I reach out with a concern via email, text, anything like that, you guys get right back to me, whether it is a street issue or whatever concern a resident has,” said Councillor-at-Large Robert Haas, III. “You guys are great, you do fantastic work from the top down. Just keep up the great work and thanks for all that you do.”