Patrolmen agree to new contract, five other unions still at impasse

DERRY | Even though the Town Council approved the police patrolmen's union contract on Tuesday, five other unions are still deadlocked.

Contracts for all town employees | 250 of the town's 257 employees are unionized | expired on July 1. At that time, town officials were optimistic that the contracts would be resolved soon.

However, unions representing public works employees, administrative workers, supervisors, firefighters and fire officials, have since declared an impasse, according to Human Resources Director Larry Budreau.

The police patrolmen's union reached agreement on a one-year deal, which includes a 2.5 percent across-the-board pay hike. The two sides also reached agreement regarding health insurance benefits and clothing allowance.

While the patrolmen have a deal in place, Budreau said the police supervisors union is still at the bargaining table. Budreau, who is negotiating the contracts on behalf of the town, would not comment on why the negotiations remain deadlocked yesterday.

"My hope is that we will achieve contracts with all seven as expeditiously as possible," he said.

But some town officials remain hopeful that this could mean a step in the right direction for the town employees.

"It's showing that negotiations are working are working," Councilor Brian Chirichiello said last week.

Without new contracts, employees have worked under the terms of the contracts that expired in July. As a result, any increased costs in health insurance or other areas will be borne by the town instead of the employees. Employees have worked without any increase in salary or benefits.

None of the unions has a strike provision in its contract, so members would be breaking the law if they decided to walk off the job.

The next step in the process is for a mediator to be assigned to each of the unions to try to get them back to the bargaining table, Budreau said.