|
County Negotiates Five-Year Contract with Civil Service Employees Association
Health insurance payments "most significant modification" in agreement for County
by Margaret Sternberg
Ending 14 months of negotiations, the Civil Service Employee Association and Putnam County have agreed on a five-year contract that, according to Personnel Director Paul Eldridge, will create stability for both county employees and the administration. The prior contract expired December 31, 2006, and the new contract is retroactive from January 1, 2007. This contract covers primarily clerical and highway employees.
Representatives for both sides described the new contract as fair with a lot of give and take on both sides, and CSEA employees ratified the contract last week. The contract now moves to the Legislature's Personnel Committee for consideration and is expected to be voted on by the full Legislature during its March meeting.
Mr. Eldridge pointed to the union's concessions on health insurance as the most significant part of the contract. Although current county employees make contributions to their health insurance, all employees hired after January 1, 2008 will be paying a greater portion of health insurance costs. Employees with one to three years county employment will pay 30 percent, four to eight years 25 percent, nine to 12-years 20 percent, and 13- to 15-years 15 percent. Those with more than 15-years service pay 10 percent of costs. The county pays the remainder.
Eldridge pointed to a new, contractual "opt-out" feature for retirees paying for county health insurance as a potentially important measure in saving the county money going forward, although he stressed that the results would be hard to predict.
He said that as future county employees pay greater portions of their health insurance costs, including into retirement, more may choose other insurance options. Health insurance costs for retirees have been an ongoing budget issue between the County Executive and the Legislature for a number of years, and the opt-out option may resolve the deadlock by motivating retirees to forego health insurance through the county.
The opt-out feature has been and will continue to be available to current employees. Eldridge also expects fewer current employees to opt for county-provided insurance if the employees have other, cheaper insurance options available.
The other major issue, according to Eldridge, was salaries. The new contract leaves 2007 salaries unchanged, and raises for the years 2008 through 2011 are 3.25, 4.00, 4.25 and 4.50 percent, respectively. Mr. Eldridge said the average raise each year is 3.20 percent.
Local CSEA President John Mulreany said, "County employees are a good group of people who do a difficult job for the county and we're hoping the Legislature approves the contract."
County Executive Bob Bondi said, "Labor contracts today are difficult to negotiate and get approved. These are difficult times for employees and taxpayers. There are advantages in this contract for employees and taxpayers that allow county employees to continue performing their jobs and for the taxpayers to carry less of the costs…" Personnel Director Eldridge agreed saying it was good to have a longer-term contract, "It creates stability, and people don't have to worry."
Providing local news, information and opinions from
Philipstown and Putnam Valley, NY
Encompassing the Villages of Cold Spring and Nelsonville,
and the hamlet of Garrison, Putnam County, NY.
This site is a publication of The Putnam County News and Recorder, the source for news and information of the Philipstown
and Putnam Valley area. The PCN&R is 139
years old, published in hard copy every Wednesday, and circulated throughout Putnam
County, NY.
The PCN&R prints LEGAL NOTICES
for: Putnam County, The Town of Philipstown, The Town of Putnam Valley, Village of Cold Spring, Village of
Nelsonville, the Haldane Union Free School District and the Garrison Union Free School
District.
Deadline for printed press releases, advertisements and classifieds is Monday at noon for
Wednesday publication. This site is updated on an as-needed basis with a minimum update
weekly on Thursdays. For further information or to request a subscription to the paper, please
contact us with your name and mailing address at:
(845) 265-2468 PO Box 185, Cold Spring, NY 10516, or e-mail us at editor@pcnr.com
If you see an advertiser on line, tell them! | Click ads below
for larger version
System and Method for Display
Ads have a Patent Pending.
Click Here for More Information
|
