New Contract for Indiana City Workers

City employees in Connersville, Indiana, have ratified new four-year contracts.

Street, park, and sanitation department workers won a new paid holiday, Juneteenth, commemorating June 19, 1865, when the last slaves in the U.S. were freed. Members will see a 3 percent wage increase in the first year of the contract, and there will be wage re-openers in each of the remaining years of the agreement. The new agreement also includes a 25 cent per hour increase for employees with a CDL, and improvements in seniority, holidays, and vacation language, and it protects the employees’ union health insurance coverage for the life of the pact.   The Local 512 members maintain the city’s streets and parks, and pick up trash in the Connersville. The Union's Bargaining Committee was Christopher Geise, Melody Steele and Peter Shonfeld. They were assisted by Indiana Joint Board President Eric Schwartz.

The Connersville paramedics and EMTs unit’s new agreement includes language improvements in the areas of seniority, staffing, funeral Leave, holidays, and sick days, and it maintains the employees’ union health insurance coverage for the life of the pact.  There is a first-year annual salary increase of almost $1,000 dollars for E.M.T.s. and a $2,400 increase for paramedics, with a wage reopener in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year. The new contract also includes more money for certain certifications. Serving on the negotiating committee were Larry Swhier, Scott Brown and Misha Gibson. They were assisted by Indiana Joint Board President Eric Schwartz.