(GOSHEN, NEW YORK) - Orange County Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Unit Members recently approved a new contract that levels the playing field for wages across the Bargaining Unit, a win that will aid in the recruitment and retention of Workers and restore wage parity, Union Officials said.

The agreement establishes all CSEA-represented County Workers as 40-hour per week Employees.

While this was the norm for decades, a former county executive used financial struggles the county was experiencing in the early 2000s to push for a tiered system that paid newer Employees for either 37.5 hours or 35 hours-per-week based on date of hire.

Giving those newer Workers parity with the existing 40-hour-per-week Employees will give them a pay jump to help with rising expenses, CSEA said.

“For us negotiating, the first thing we needed to do was even the playing field for our Unit Membership,” Orange County CSEA Unit President Denise Fuchs said. “Putting everybody back to forty hours has such a vital impact on our Union.”

In addition to bringing all Workers up to the 40-hour-workweek, the agreement includes percentage wage increases in all five years of the contract and it introduces a separation incentive for County Workers with 25 or more years of employment.

The contract also includes pandemic/retention pay for existing Employees who worked during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

In support of County Workers who serve in the military, the contract incorporates language formalizing a benefit for Workers who are deployed.

Based on the Workers’ rate of military pay, the county will make up the remainder of a Worker’s county salary to ensure they don’t incur financial losses while deployed.

Orange County Legislators have passed a number of motions over the years instituting this, but incorporating language into the contract guarantees it will continue, CSEA said.

To Continue Reading This Labor News Report, Go To: Orange County Unit contract restores parity (cseany.org)