Granby Board Of Selectmen Accept Union Employee Contract

The Granby Board of Selectmen and the union representing the majority of town hall employees have approved a new, four-year union contract in Granby, avoiding a possibly lengthy and contentious mediation process.

Town Manager Bill Smith has been in negotiations with the Granby Municipal Employees Association (GMEA), Local 399, Council No. 4,  for a number of months. The most recent contract, approved on Sept. 25., was the result of a significant amount of work and compromise from both sides of the negotiating table.

“A lot of negotiation sessions resulted in a four-year agreement,” Smith said.

The contract itself continues the current contract terms already in force between the town and the GMEA, with the following notable exceptions: Effective July 1, 2012 (post-dated) the base wage increase for GMEA member employees will be 2 percent. The increase effective July 1, 2013, will raise base wages by 2.75 percent.

In the last two contract years, salary increases will be determined by negotiations between the town and the GMEA.

Those negotiable wage increases will be partially based on a salary survey. Cooperation between the two parties was emphasized in the memorandum sent by Smith to the board of selectmen.

“Such [a] salary survey, of conducted, shall be undertaken with mutual cooperation and concurrence between the two parties,” Smith wrote, noting to the board that increases in the cost of living will be another factor in those negotiations.

Based on Smith suggestions and previous reports of negotiations to the board, Granby’s selectmen was accepted by a unanimous vote at the board’s meeting on Monday, Oct. 15.