Following more than a year of negotiations, the town and the Newtown Police Union, Local 3153, Council 15, of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) have reached a three-year labor contact, specifying the terms of employment for 43 of the 45 sworn officers at the police department.

Since last July 1, police have been working without a contract because the previous agreement expired last June 30.  

The new contract runs from July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2017. Consequently, union members soon will  receive checks containing their pay raises that are retroactive to last July 1.

Police Union President Scott Ruszczyk told Police Commission members at a May 5 session that the labor pact has been approved by the union and the town. The Board of Selectman unanimously endorsed the pact at a May 4 meeting. Police union members approved the labor agreement in late April.

The new labor pact provides 1.9 percent, 1.9 percent, and 2 percent pay raises for union members across the three successive years of the agreement, Mr Ruszczyk said.

Also, the agreement increases by one percent the fraction of the health insurance premiums that must be covered by union members. Under the new agreement, union members will pay 12 percent of those premiums instead of 11 percent, he said. The town pays the remainder of the premiums.

A key aspect of the new labor contract is that new employees will participate in a tax shelter plan, otherwise known as a defined contribution plan, or a 401-A plan, rather than a conventional pension plan.

Under that agreement, new individual employees would invest five percent of their annual salary and the town would contribute 15 percent of their annual salary toward the tax shelter.

Existing employees would continue to be covered by a conventional pension plan to the year 2045.

Mr Ruszczyk said that having new employees participate in a tax shelter rather than a pension plan represents a “mistake” for the town. That change would result in the town becoming less competitive with other towns in terms of attracting new police officers, he said. The most qualified job candidates would be attracted to towns that offer pension plans to police, he claimed.

A pension plan is one of the best fringe benefits that is offered by police departments, he said.

Creating a tax shelter plan for new employees was a goal in the town’s negotiations with the police union for a new contract because the amount of money the town would need to budget for its contribution to a tax shelter is more predictable than the amount of town money required for a pension plan, according to the selectmen’s May 4 meeting minutes.   

Of the lengthy contract talks, Mr Ruszczyk said, “We spent a lot of time defending our benefits.”

“It’s as good as we’re [police] going to get,” he said of the collective bargaining agreement.

Police union members voting on the labor pact endorsed it by a 3-to-1 margin, he said.

The agreement also has changes in areas including shift bidding, the detectives’ work schedule, sick leave, long-term leaves of absence, notices of resignation, private duty, overtime, and a health incentive program, among others.