Road workers to get 2% wage increase
5/25/2011Sylvania Township's road department workers will receive 2 percent raises, retroactive to Jan. 1, plus $750 signing bonuses under the terms of a labor contract resolved by fact finding that both the township trustees and the workers' union approved last week.
The three-year agreement includes provisions for "re-openers" to negotiate wages and insurance for the second and third years, and increases workers' co-payments for mail-order prescription drugs.
Fact finder Robert G. Stein, of Kent, Ohio, sided with the township on a reduction in holiday overtime pay for the 13 members of Teamsters Local 20 who maintain township roads, and also rejected a union request to revert to seniority-based work assignments and to add Veterans' Day as a paid holiday.
He charted a compromise course on wages. The township offered a 2 percent raise with no signing bonus, while the union proposed either a 3 percent raise or a 2.5 percent raise plus a $1,000 signing bonus.
The township trustees' approval was unanimous, while the union voted 10-1 to accept the fact finder's recommendations.
"I'm glad both sides accepted it. Both sides can live with it," Township Administrator John Zeitler said after the union's vote was reported.
Teamsters Local 20 did not return a call seeking comment.
Contracts the township had settled with its police and fire unions provided 2 percent raises and $750 signing bonuses to those work forces, but also contain wage reopeners for 2012 and 2013.