LEWISTON — Negotiations between the city and all six labor unions are ongoing, but Deputy City Administrator Phil Nadeau said he might be able to bring one proposal to city councilors within a month.

“We really began once the fiscal year ended, but there are always delays,” Nadeau said. “It takes longer than you expect because some people are on vacation. And then, there’s special circumstances like hurricanes.”

Contracts with the local union chapters representing all city employees have expired.

Those include two chapters of the Maine Association of Police, one representing sergeants and lieutenants and the other representing patrol officers and detectives and a chapter of the International Association of Firefighters which expired in 2010.

Contracts with the local chapters of the Maine State Employees Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees expired in June. Lewiston has two chapters of the AFSCME, one representing the city’s Public Works employees and a second representing most Public Works supervisors.

The MSEA represents about 50 general government positions, most of whom work in City Hall.

Last year, the city negotiated one-year contracts with the AFSCME and MSEA unions because of the financial uncertainty at the time. Those contracts didn’t include any cost-of-living wage increases or other wage increases, Nadeau said. 

Since Denis Jean stepped down as human resources director, Nadeau has had the job of taking the city’s side in negotiations all to himself.

“It’s a very time intensive process,” he said.

It’s too early to discuss negotiations publicly but he said at least one contract could be close to being settled. He wouldn’t say which one, however.

“It changes once you get broad agreement on the general direction,” Nadeau said. “It’s more difficult when you get down to the specific details in each contract. You can agree generally what everybody wants, but those details can be harder to nail down.”

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