About a dozen Latrobe public works and clerical employees have settled a new 2½-year union contract with the city that includes annual pay increases.
City council approved the labor agreement at its meeting this week, after the contract received a 10-0 vote of support from members of Local 83 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Each employee will receive a 4% raise when the contract goes into effect July 1. They”ll get pay hikes of 3.5% and 3% on that same date in each of the two following years.
“A lot of work has gone into this,” Mayor Eric Bartels said of hammering out the agreement.
With the initial increase, public works employees will see their hourly base pay range from $27.97 to $29.11. By the end of the contract, the pay scale will be from $29.82 up to $31.03
For clerical workers, which include the police secretary, meter attendant and solid waste transfer station weigh master, the hourly rate will increase from $25.52 to $27.21. Salaried employees will get a boost from $53,084 to $56,591 during the agreement.
Public works crew leaders will receive an additional $2 per hour on top of their base pay. The city council secretary will receive an additional $1.25 per hour.
Latrobe Police Chief Richard Bosco, who also is serving as interim city manager, said all city employees now will have the opportunity to participate in a 457B retirement plan.
Council approved an agreement with Ken Jones of John Hancock to administer the plan, which allows employees to defer income taxation on retirement savings into future years.
Bosco said such a plan previously was available to police officers.
“It went defunct for a while, but we reconstituted it,” he said.
Council filled a new multi-faceted clerical position under the AFSCME contract by agreeing to hire Leanne Gessler, currently a secretary at Greater Latrobe Senior High.
Bartels cited her experience with clerical work as recommending her from among two finalists who were interviewed for the job.
“It’s a hybrid position,” said Bosco. “She’s going to be covering work for grants, code enforcement, the police and general administration.”
