JAY — The town and Teamsters Union Local 340 that represents five transfer station and recycling workers and one Sewer Department employee are headed to arbitration over pay raises and other issues.

“The town has worked hard to be equitable with all of the employees and we value the work that these employees do,” Town Manager Ruth Cushman said Tuesday. “Three other units have settled for the offer that was made to these units and it would be unfair to the other employees to give a better deal to one than another. We regret that it has had to go this far.”

Carl Guignard, a Teamsters’ business agent for the bargaining unit, was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

Other union contracts in the town were settled Sept. 26, 2011, for staff at the Town Office and highway workers, and on Dec. 17, 2011, for the Police Department. They were all retroactive to July 1, 2011.

Police took no raises for each of three years in support of an upgraded retirement plan designed for police. The highway and office staff received a 1 percent increase the first year, and 1.5 percent increases the second and third year.

According to a fact-finding report issued in June, the town is offering transfer station and sewer department employees a 1 percent increase the first year of a contract, 1.5 percent increase in the second and third years. The contract would be retroactive to July 1, 2011.

The union is requesting 2 percent increases for each of the three years in the proposed contract.

The majority fact-finding report recommends a 1 percent increase the first year beginning on July 1, 2011, and 1.5 percent for the second and third years beginning on July 1, 2012, and July 1, 2013, respectively.

The majority report states that in regard to wages, the union demonstrated clearly that consumer costs are trending upward. The wage survey conducted shows that this unit’s wages compare favorably to the wages for similar employees in three nearby towns.

“Before any raise, entry level for this unit exceeds that of Wilton, Farmington and Rangeley by $2.71, $2.31 and $1.10 per hour, respectively,” the report states.

The fact-finders also took into account that these percentages were the same as agreed to between the parties regarding other bargaining units. Lastly, the increase of 1 percent was the same as the town gave department heads, the report states. The majority report was signed by esquire Jack Hunt, the neutral chairman, and employer fact-finder Michael C. Wing.

The minority report, a dissenting opinion of union-selected fact-finder Donald F. Fontaine, states that the majority opinion accepts the town’s proposal with regard to wage increase and rejects that of the union.

“I cannot join in this recommendation because there are inadequate findings of fact to justify it,” Fontaine said in his report. “The union presented a convincing case for its very modest wage request. The town did not dispute the union’s facts. Nor, did the town present any reliable evidence that the union’s requests were out of line in the economic contest. There was no evidence that the town was facing any financial exigency.”

According to the last year of the previous three-year contract that workers are working under now and that ended June 30, 2011, transfer station employees make $18.30 an hour for an operator, $17.44 an hour for a truck driver, and $15.72 per hour for a laborer.

These do not factor in longevity increases.

The Sewer Department worker, according to the current contract, is making $17.45 an hour as a plant operator, not factoring in longevity.

Among the other disagreements between the two parties are hours of work, scheduled time off, overtime, vacation pay, insurance, clothing allowances and extra weekend work.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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