JAMESTOWN – The city of Jamestown has reached a retro-active, contract extension agreement for the year 2011 with the last of its five labor groups. Last night the Jamestown City Council approved an agreement with members of the Jamestown City Administrative Association (JCAA), which represents 35 mid-management employees.
Jamestown mayor Sam Teresi says the new agreement brings the members of the JCAA union into a similar labor agreement with the city’s other four labor groups.
“[The council] approved a two-percent raise, which is the same raise the other unions received in previous contract negotiations for 2011,” Teresi explained, adding, “Also, starting immediately, members of JCAA will go to contributing out of pocket 17 percent of the total premium costs for their healthcare benefits. That will also extend to retirees of that bargaining unit and it will effectively bring them up to the same 17 percent that the other unions are at.”
The mayor also said the agreement also addressed two other issues that specifically dealt with the JCAA union. “The agreement also solved a couple of other personnel-type grievances to the satisfaction of the city and puts those to bed once and for all. It also allows us to reclassify a position that was vacated through retirement to a lower classification with a lower pay grade, allowing us to fill that vacant position of an engineering technician in the department of public works at a lesser level.”
While the city has reached a retro-active agreement with the JCAA, it is far from finished with working on labor negotiations. All city employees affiliated with labor groups are currently working without a contract for 2012. Teresi said he and his staff will continue negotiations for those new contracts in hopes of reaching agreement on terms for a multi-year contracts.
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