CSEA Supports New Contract With Fulton

FULTON, NY – Members of the CSEA who are employed by the city of Fulton ratified a new four-year labor agreement Thursday evening.It is the first of the city’s three bargaining units to approve a new labor agreement. The previous contract expired at the end of 2007. The contract is waiting now on an affirmative vote by the Fulton Common Council to go into effect.

CSEA unit president Brace Tallents said that the contract was approved 55-5 by union members Thursday. The union covers 74 employees in the city of Fulton.

“This was the best turnout we’ve every had for a vote,” Tallents said. “We put together a good package that benefits our members and the city. Great efforts were made in negotiations not just for our members but to help the city out with the expenses they have, as well.”

Fulton Mayor Ronald Woodward said the new agreement will provide employees with a 2 percent pay increase this year, followed by 3 percent increases in 2009 and 2010 and a 3.5 percent increase in 2011.

Woodward noted that insurance changes and a $10,000 retirement incentive were included in the new contract, as well. He said that the city expects to see four retirements this year because of the incentive. He noted, however, that the city should see savings in the years to come because of the changes.

Once retirements come, Woodward said that the city will be able to scrutinize which positions are filled and promote from within the union, hiring at the other end. New hires, he said, also come in at a lower pay scale and with different benefits than existing employees.

“That will result in relatively large savings to the city in the long run,” Tallents said.

“We are also going to formulate a wellness committee with the administration to work on good, effective ways to keep health care costs down,” Tallents noted. “We already have some really good ideas.”

“I think that we are heading in the right direction,” Woodward said. “We studied five contracts for municipalities our size, including the county, and I believe we’ve reached a good contract that is fair to both sides.”

With the affirmative vote from the CSEA final, Woodward said that the city will host a special meeting of the Fulton Common Council Tuesday evening to vote on the contract.

“We want to seat that vote and get all of that worked out,” Woodward said. He noted that payments for the salary increases will be retroactive to the beginning of the year for each of the three unions.

“It will take some work and some time to work that all out,” he said. “We want to get it done so we can focus on the other two unions.”

Woodward said that the city is close in its negotiations with the Police Benevolent Association and will discuss that progress during an executive session Tuesday evening. He noted that talks with the Fulton Firefighter’s Association hit a stumbling block over the process to fill the assistant chief’s position. That must be resolved before the negotiations can proceed, he said.

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