Augusta council to consider employee contracts, Howard Hill agreement

Yesterday at 5:26 PM Six of the unions that represent city workers are up for raises each year for the next three years.

By Keith Edwards kedwards@centralmaine.com Staff Writer

AUGUSTA New three-year contracts with six of the citys eight union employee bargaining units are up for City Council approval Thursday.

click image to enlarge

PROPOSED FOR CITY ACQUISITION: This aerial taken in late March shows Howard Hill, 164 wooded acres that serve as the scenic forested backdrop for the State House.

Staff photo by Joe Phelan

The new deals would provide those employees with raises of 1.5 percent this year, 2 percent next year and 2.5 percent in 2016, according to Ralph St. Pierre, finance director and assistant city manager.

The contracts would continue insurance benefits changes agreed to by the unions a year ago in previous contract negotiations, which gave the employees 2 percent raises but saved the city money overall by reducing insurance premium costs, savings expected to continue through the term of the new contracts.

Employees represented by the six bargaining units include police supervisors, patrol officers, general government workers, public safety dispatchers, Augusta Civic Center maintenance workers and public works workers.

The two remaining units without a new contract represent firefighters, ambulance crews and Fire Department battalion chiefs. St. Pierre said negotiations are underway with those two units as well.

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Augusta council to consider employee contracts, Howard Hill agreement