Two weeks after the end of a public workers’ strike, a settlement may potentially be reached between the city and its employees.
Unionized staff of the City and Borough of Wrangell on Monday voted to approve a package that would amend their current contract, potentially bringing to a close negotiations that have gone on for more than three years.
Interim borough manager Carol Rushmore confirmed management at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1547 had forwarded the wage and benefits proposal, which would amend the contract unilaterally imposed by the Borough Assembly on June 20. The city’s governing council had decided to take that course after it felt negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement had reached an impasse. Affected workers responded with a strike on June 22, which ended a week later when city management agreed to return to the negotiating table.
Heading Wrangell’s negotiating team, Rushmore announced on July 5 that the city would not be accepting the union’s final offer, and that the borough would not be making further offers. Seeking comment on the letter Friday from IBEW’s attorney Serena Green, reported that both parties were still at the table.
“We were able to reach an agreement,” commented Dave Reaves, business manager with IBEW’s Anchorage office.
The pending agreement would be a new contract between 24 city employees represented by IBEW and the city. The protracted negotiations have revolved around this new collective bargaining agreement to replace the one adopted in 2011 and expiring in July 2014. While both parties eventually made concessions to reach common ground on restructuring the wage table and copayment of insurance premiums, heading into this summer the remaining point of difference had been an across-the-board wage increase.
In IBEW’s last best offer of June 8, it proposed a $2.50 hourly increase to apply to all wage steps on the table. The city’s team the next day offered a revised counterproposal of $0.75 per hour, which was rejected by the union without a new counteroffer. This became the terms of the contract adopted by the Wrangell Assembly on June 20 and which took effect on July 1.
The latest proposal, which was approved by union members Monday, would accept the $0.75 but proposes an adjustment to the proportion of health insurance premiums covered by workers. Currently all workers would be required to cover 15 percent of their plans, including for packages covering immediate family members. Under the new proposal this coverage would be tiered, with employees hired before July 2011 having to cover only 10 percent, with all others hired after that date still covering the 15 percent.
Three-fourths of the bargaining unit were hired before that cutoff, and so would see a reduction to their insurance costs if adopted. Previously they had not been required to cover any percentage of costs for their health benefits, though workers hired since 2011 have.
The Assembly has called a special meeting at City Hall for this evening at 5:30 to consider IBEW’s proposal.
“What we’re taking to the Assembly is an amended contract,” Rushmore explained on Tuesday. If adopted, the package would amend the contract already in place.
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