Agreement expected before month’s end
By:Roger Alvarado
After two years of being stuck on opposite sides of the bargaining table, it appears that the township and the union for Department of Public Works employees are about to come together.
Following a bargaining session held Tuesday both Mayor Steven Sireci and DPW union chief Fred Eurick say they are optimistic that an accord between the two, which would finally resolve the 2-year-old labor dispute, can be reached by month’s end.
"It looks encouraging," Mayor Sireci said. "The next step would be to draw up document."
"We are much closer," Mr. Eurick said. "They are writing up a proposal now so that we can have an offer to bring back to our people."
According to Mayor Sireci, a previous bargaining session held between the sides in mid-January helped iron out the differences between the two.
"The last session we had we really got more or less onto the same page," Mayor Sireci said. "This one we used more to make some adjustments on various details. The DPW’s contract is always complicated because of the complex finances involved. Their membership is set in different classes and so there are different pay grades and we had to work out the details of that."
According to Mr. Eurick, once the union receives a formal proposal it will be solely up to his membership to either accept or reject its terms.
"We’re just waiting for them to write the final thing up," Mr. Eurick said. "It seems positive and we’re waiting for them to write it up and give it to our lawyer so we can present it to our union."
Mayor Sireci says he’d prefer it if a formal accord is reached by the end of February.
Both sides refused to reveal terms of the proposed agreement, but Mayor Sireci did say that the final contract proposal is retroactive and will be longer than the usual three-year pacts that have been previously agreed upon by the two sides.
"We’re looking at four," Mayor Sireci said. "Two into the past and two into the future. It was important for us to do it this way, because if we didn’t we’d be back at the table in a few months and we needed a break from that."
There are 30 Department of Public Works employees in its union. The starting salary for an employee is around $27,000, which Mr. Eurick says is on the low side when compared with other townships.
Mayor Sireci is hopeful that the sides will put the matter behind them as soon as possible.