Two Town Unions Agree to Return to Negotiations

This story appeared inthe Nutfield News
and was written by Robin Respaut
————––––—–––—————–

The town’s two fire unions, representing officers and firefighters, are returning to negotiations with the town after declaring an impasse in September, while the town’s support staff union has requested a fact finder be assigned after exhausting an assigned neutral mediator.

Larry Budreau, the town’s director of human resources, said currently, six union contracts have not been ratified for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. Employees are still working under the previous year’s contracts, which expired at the end of June. No salary or benefit changes for the year can go into effect until the new contracts are signed.

Budreau said he preferred to see the fire unions returning to active negotiations. “It is always best to be at the table if you can be,” he said.

While the fire unions operate under two different contracts, both returned to discussions with the town simultaneously. Previously, the unions were waiting for a mediator to be assigned by the state’s Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB).

Once a union declares an impasse, negotiations are deadlocked until a mediator is assigned. The costs for the neutral mediators, who are typically attorneys, are shared by both parties involved.

Unable to reach an agreement after meeting with a mediator last week, the town’s administrative support staff union requested to be assigned a fact finder by the PELRB.

A fact finder can be used only after a mediator has not been able to achieve an agreement. A fact finder is a neutral party who gathers information from both groups and develops a report based on his or her professional opinion.

The mediation session with the administrator support staff union last week was originally meant for the public works union, which claimed it was not ready to meet with a mediator at that time, Budreau explained.

The police patrolmen’s association ratified its contract in mid-October. That contract, which is for one year, went into effect retroactively.

The two unions representing public works employees and professional, administrative and technical supervisors are still awaiting an assigned mediator by the PELRB.