Plymouth Town Clerical Unit Congratulations to the Plymouth Clerical staff for standing up to unilateral changes in their working conditions. After instituting a four-day work week at Town Hall that required clerical workers to juggle family responsibilities and even give up second jobs, the Board of Selectman recently changed the hours again. This time, however, the schedule change reflected what clerical workers wanted: a 7:30AM - 4:00PM workday, Monday through Friday. Members also received wage increases of 1.5%, 1.5% and 1% over the life of the three-year contract. Other gains include the addition of a half-day off on Christmas Eve and an expansion in the assignments covered by overtime. A job well done by Lyn Scolamiero, Joanne McNulty and Marilyn Fistori.

Town of Yarmouth, Unit A Recent negotiations between the Town of Yarmouth and Unit A Employees can be described in three words: give and take. While new hires will see a reduction in sick days and vacation days, the contract included some gains. Members received an additional personal day, a 1% COLA through the three-year contract and an increase in the cap on tuition reimbursement. Bargaining unit members also used the negotiating process to clarify contract language. Thanks to Jayne Fogarty, Bill Bonetti, Dave Carlson, Linda Cipro, Jeff Parker and Bill Martin for their hard work. See a picture of the negotiating team at www.seiu888.org.

Town of Yarmouth, Unit B Dan Mills and Karl Vonhone led the way for Unit B during recent contract negotiations. While negotiations included some “give,” including a vacation cap on current members and give back of three sick days, members thought that was trivial compared to the “take” that management had wanted. The new contract also includes an increase in meal allowance, continued accrual of benefits during an unpaid leave of absence of two weeks, and a three-year contract with 0% COLA, 2% COLA plus 1% lump sum and a 1% COLA plus 2% lump sum.