Valley Stream, employees reach deal

The village employees union has a new contract, ratified by the membership of Local 342 on June 10 and approved by the Valley Stream Board of Trustees on June 21.

Although the union has been without a contract for more than a year — the last one expired on May 31, 2009 — officials said that negotiations were not contentious, and reflected an understanding of the weak economy. Village Clerk Vincent Ang said that both sides didn’t even sit down to talk until about six months after the last contract expired, holding out hope that the economy would improve.

The new contract runs through May 31, 2013. Village employees will get a retroactive 2 percent pay hike for the year that began June 1, 2009. Salaries for all workers will immediately increase by that amount, and they will receive a lump sum payment for the past year. Village Treasurer Michael Fox said that the cost for the village would be about $250,000, and that money had already been set aside.

Employees will receive another pay increase of 3 percent in December. Fox said that for the village, this is the equivalent of only a 1 1/2 percent increase over the course of the budget year, allowing it to save some money. In June 2011, employees will receive another 3 percent increase, followed by 4 percent in June 2012.

Chris Vela, Valley Stream’s delegate to Local 342, said the goal was to get a well-deserved raise for employees without hurting the village, and that was accomplished. Vela said that union members, many of whom are village residents, understand that taxpayers pay their salaries. “I think it was beneficial for both sides,” he said of the new deal.

Medical benefits are changing in the new contract. New employees will now pay 15 percent of their premiums for the first seven years, before the village picks up the full cost. In the past, the village assumed 100 percent of the cost of premiums after five years, and the employee contribution rate dropped from 15 to 10 percent after two years. The change does not affect employees hired before the contract was approved.

Fox said that the village could see significant savings down the road, depending on how many employees with the old health care rates retire. “The more turnover we have in our positions, the more savings there will be,” he said. “The savings up front today, tomorrow isn’t going to be much.”

Within a few years, Fox estimated, the village could see annual savings in its health care costs approaching $100,000.

Valley Stream has seen its revenues decline by several hundred thousand dollars over the past two years — specifically mortgage taxes and interest on its investments. Village officials said some savings were necessary. “It’s a rough economic climate,” Deputy Mayor Joanne Antun said, “and that appreciation was on both sides of the table.”

A new benefit for village employees is a flexible medical spending plan. This will give workers the option of saving some of their pre-tax salary for out-of-pocket medical costs such as doctor co-pays and prescription drugs. “It allows them to save money on medical costs they were going to be incurring anyway,” Fox said.

The village has about 170 full-time employees, plus a few hundred part-time and seasonal workers. In the summer there are close to 500 employees, all of whom are covered by the new contract.

Vela said that village employees were nearly unanimous when they ratified the contract last month. “There was like two or three votes against,” he said.

Ang said that the contract’s benefits also extend to employees who are not in the union, such as administrators, mayoral appointees and members of the village board. The contract, he said, is fair for both sides. “It was probably the easiest and most [cooperative] between the village and the union that I’ve seen in any negotiation,” Ang said. “It was, all in all, a very good contract settlement. The employees got a respectable raise.”