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LOWER MERION – Lower Merion Township Commissioners have approved a new four-year contract with its largest labor union.
The new deal gives employees in the workers association a nearly 5 percent pay increase this year and a 3.5 percent increase over the next three years.
Among other changes, it also gives employees Juneteenth as a holiday for the first time.
Ernie McNeely, township manager, said the township and the worker’s association have been negotiating since last year before reaching the new agreement.
“It includes raises of 4.75 percent for 2023 and then 3.5 percent in each of the subsequent years going through 2026,” McNeely said.
As the largest union for township employees, the workers association includes about 217 employees. McNeely said they included outdoor workers, office workers, and some technical workers.
On April 3, the union members voted and ratified the proposed agreement.
The new contract runs from 2023 through 2026.
“We always want to make sure that we recognize those that work for the township in a fair and equitable manner, and I think that this is reflective of the board doing just that,” Commissioner Dan Bernheim said.
Another provision in the contract will, over time, ensure all employees will be paying the same rate of five percent for their pension contribution.
Along with the addition of Juneteenth as a holiday, the township is also adding a personal day for school crossing guards.
The agreement also includes a provision to discuss paternal leave. Currently, there is no provision in the township agreement with its largest union for paternal leave. There is one in the police contract, McNeely said.
The township employees have been working without a contract since the start of the year.
“It has been a long process and our union employees have been cooperatively working without a contract since January. Our WA worked diligently through multiple bargaining sessions with our staff and the Board of Commissioners to craft an agreement that improves the lives of their employee union members while helping to maintain the financial condition of the Township. The proposed settlement is positive for both the Township and our employees,” township officials wrote in a memo to the commissioners.
The added costs under the new contract will be about $2.41 million over the life of the contract. That comes to about $631,000 per year.
“The first year is obviously a higher wage increase, but part of that is in recognition of the rather high inflationary period we’ve been through over this past year when our employees were getting much smaller wages than the CPI,” McNeely said.
The commissioners voted 12 to two to approve the contract.
“I’d just like to thank Manager McNeely for shepherding this contract through. I think it’s a great product, and thank you to the board and manager McNeely and to the workers association for agreeing to discuss parental leave in the coming year,” said Commissioner Shawn Kraemer.
One week after the commissioners approved the new contract with its union employees, a similar provision was made for non-union employees. They, too, will receive a 4.75 percent pay increase and get Juneteenth as a holiday.
According to McNeely, the changes for the non-union employees would cost about $377,000.
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