City of Newton, Police Union Sign Pay Agreement: Report

NEWTON, MA – The city of Newton and its police union signed a collective bargaining agreement to increase salaries and detail pay for officers under the rank of sergeant.

According to the Newton TAB, the agreement covers officers through fiscal year 2018; it does not apply to superior officers, who are in the midst of negotiating their own contact with a separate union.

The contract retroactively increases officers' salaries by 1.5 percent for fiscal year 2015 and 2 percent for the current fiscal year, as well as raises the salaries by 3.5 percent for the next two fiscal years, the Newton TAB reported.

Hourly rates for private and city details were raised as part of the agreement, and officers' longevity pay will now be a percentage of their salary as opposed to a fixed rate, according to the report.

A rough version of the contract was signed last week, and Newton's chief financial officer Maureen Lemieux told the TAB a final version is expected to be formalized by the end of the month.

>>>Read the full report from the Newton TAB

>>>Photo of Newton Police cruiser courtesy of Flickr user christopdesoto, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0