Government

Greenport Village Board and union reach contract deal

Greenport board members approved a new union contract Monday. (Cyndi Murray photo)
Greenport Village Board members approved a new union contract Monday. (Credit: Cyndi Murray photo)

Greenport Village and its civil service employee union have reached a contract agreement, marking the end of a nearly five-year negotiation battle.

The Village Board ratified the contract, which includes pay increases for the workers, in a unanimous vote during Monday’s regular meeting.

The union signed off on the contract last Thursday.

Union officials rejected two previous contracts offered by the village, Trustee George Hubbard said after the meeting. Even after a state-appointed mediator submitted a non-binding fact-finding report last year, it took an additional 11 months of bargaining to reach an agreement on the new contract, he said.

“Now that this is out of the way, we can move on to other projects,” Mr. Hubbard said.

According to the signed contract, workers will receive a 2 percent salary increase each year moving forward and will get what’s described as a one-time cash bonus equal to 2 percent of their earned salaries from 2011 through 2014. The newly ratified contract calls for union workers to contribute 2 percent toward their health care in 2014. That contribution will increase incrementally each year until it reaches 5 percent in 2017, Mr. Hubbard said. Village employees had not been previously contributing.

Greenport Village has 27 civil service employees. Union leader Doug Jacobs could not be reached for comment.

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