Village Strikes Salary Agreement With Union Workers

The Babylon Village Board formally approved a new compensation agreement Tuesday night with its Local 1000 union workers as part of the ongoing contract negotiations that involve highway, sanitation, maintenance and parks personnel.

Union members have been working on an extended contract basis since the most recent four-year contract ended June 2010.The current contract document is more than 10 years old and had not been significantly revised or altered in renewal agreeements, noted officials.

The compensation revision features an employment longevity stipend for the first contract year of 2011-2012. Employees with 30 years on the job will get $1,000, those with 20 years or more will receive $750, those with 10 years or more will receive $500 and those under 10 years of service will receive $300.

In the following three years of the contract, which will expire in May 2014, every union employee will receive a $1,000 salary boost.

Village officials expect the total cost to be less than $20,000 in the first year and average $30,000 in the following four fiscal years. No changes to employee benefits were made, added officials.

The compensation segment, said officials, is the first contract aspect to be finalized as negotiations over a new overall contract continues.

Mayor Ralph Scordino said the village also hopes to clean up ambiguous language in the contract agreement as well.

"Under the circumstances I think this is a good [compensation] agreement," Scordino stated during the village board meeting Tuesday night.