MONROE, CT — Monroe’s highway crews clear snow from town roads, allowing access for emergency vehicles, residents making their daily commutes, and for bus drivers safely taking children to school in the winter. They remove downed trees after major storms, and paved and rebuilt roadways damaged by flash floods just last summer.
“The department of public works is a vital service in Monroe,” First Selectman Terry Rooney said Wednesday afternoon. “I’m happy to announce the Town Council’s support of the highway union contract.”
Of Monroe’s public works employees, he said, “this group of folks, the majority of them live in town and they maintain our town with a high level of pride.”
Rooney said the town’s public works employees historically have not been paid nearly as much as their counterparts in surrounding towns, but this new five-year-contract will get them much closer, allowing Monroe to be more competitive in attracting new hires, while keeping its best employees here.
The contract includes a new crew leader for town parks position, because the DPW is now responsible for maintaining parks, according to Rooney.
“We adjusted the wages and positions in accordance with how the highway department operates,” Rooney said.
The first selectman negotiated the contract with Union Vice President Eric Caterson and Union Negotiator Josh Krize, with assistance from the town’s finance director, Ronald Bunovsky Jr., and Human Resources Director Craig Hirsch.
Rooney said this was to ensure all decisions were made, while considering the taxpayers of Monroe and the operating structure of the DPW.
“We took a common sense approach to this contract,” he said, adding the position changes align with how the department of public works operates in Monroe.
Monroe public works employees, who are under the Highway Division and Parks Division, represented by the Connecticut Association of Labor Unions (CALU), voted unanimously Monday, March 31, to accept the proposed contract.
Krize and Caterson signed the agreement with the first selectman in his Monroe Town Hall office Wednesday.
“Local union members would like to thank Selectman Rooney and his staff for a positive and streamlined process,” Krize said in an email Thursday morning. “Both sides were able to compromise on items to create a fair and equitable contract for both the Town and union members.”
The contract is retroactive to July of 2023 and runs through June 30, 2028.
Among the highlights, the union agreed to a concession increasing employees’ health insurance premiums from 18.5 percent to 19 percent effective July 1, 2025; 19.25 percent as of July 1, 2026; and 19.5 percent as of July 1, 2027.
Position changes and salary increases over the length of the contract are (Note: the numbers are not rounded after the decimal points and appear exactly as they are in the contract:
- Park Maintainer (4): retro $26.1428 per hour for July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024 and $26.9271 for July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, change to a new Maintainer Grade 1 position and $27.4312 per hour in fiscal year 2025-2026, $28.2174 in 2026-27, and $29.0210 in 2027-28.
- Maintainer 2 (7): retro $29.1957 in 2023-24 and $30.0715 in 2024-25, change to a new Maintainer Grade 2 CDL position and $30.9263 in 2025-26, $32.1055 in 2026-27, and $33.3107 in 2027-28.
- The new position of Park Crew Leader, effective upon hire, will be paid $31.5835 per hour in 2025-26, $32.6692 in 2026-27, and $33.7757 in 2027-28.
- Maintainer 2 (3): retro $29.1957 in 2023-24 and $30.0715 in 2024-25, change to a new Maintainer Grade 3 Skilled position at $32.3653 in 2025-26, $33.4964 in 2026-27, and $34.6523 in 2027-28.
- Maintainer 3 (2): retro $30.5911 in 2023-24 and $31.5088 in 2024-25, change to a new Operator position at $34.0149 in 2025-26, $35.4558 in 2026-27, and $36.9284 in 2027-28.
- Maintainer 4 (2): retro $31.9746 in 2023-24 and $32.9338 in 2024-25, change to a new Operator position in 2025-26 at $34.0149 in 2025-26, $35.4558 in 2026-27, and $36.9284 in 2027-28.
- Crew Leader (2): retro $33.4199 in 2023-24 and $34.4225 in 2024-25, change to a new Crew Leader position at $$35.6076 in 2025-26, $37.1707 in 2026-27, and $38.7682 in 2027-28.
- Mechanic (3): retro $34.1303 in 2023-24 and $35.1542 in 2024-25, change to a new Mechanic position at $36.3934 in 2025-26, $38.0194 in 2026-27, and $39.6813 in 2027-28.
All respectful comments with the commenter’s first and last name are welcome.
