Although it was a long and difficult road, once again UPSEU came through for its members.
After the Court of Appeals rejected the towns appeal of the “car case”, which dates back to 2008, the court referred the case back to PERB for settlement of damages. With PERB set to begin the process, PERB recommended that the parties seek to resolve the matter. UPSEU President Kevin E. Boyle, Jr. began discussions with the town in hopes of reaching an agreement. “Negotiations over the matter were difficult,” stated Boyle, “as the town sought to settle the matter for pennies on the dollar.”
After months of discussions, an agreement was reached that provides for retroactive money payments to all impacted employees, whether the individuals had left employment with the town or are still employed. The previous union, City Union Local 237 of the Teamsters had agreed to settle the matter for a one-time payment of $1,200.00 per employee in 2009 prior to the unit voting to join UPSEU. UPSEU took over the case and now an employee who stays another ten years will get a waiver ten times the amount the Teamsters were willing to take.
Another stumbling block in the discussions was the town’s insistence that no future payments be made to active employees for the loss of take home vehicles, and UPSEU’s insistence that payments continue during the employees continued employment with the town. In the end the Town agreed with UPSEU’s position and payments will continue annually based on a monthly calculation until an employee leaves employment.
“The balancing act for us was protecting the needs of our members while ensuring the agreement was fair to the town’s taxpayers,” stated Boyle. “In the end, that was achieved with employees receiving a significant sum of money now, and future payments to offset the loss of a take home vehicle. The town retained the right to provide take-home vehicles to eliminate future costs if a vehicle is provided,” concluded Boyle.
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