'Pay up' - highway workers claim contract not being upheld
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

A mass of Town of Amherst highway employees came with one voice to Monday's board meeting. "Pay up," they shouted at the Town Board.

The employees are angry that the town has not increased their salaries to reflect the contract that was accepted in August. The previous contract expired Dec. 31, 2005.

"Someone was appointed to do a job and they are not doing it," Amherst Highway Employees Association President Chris O'Neill said, adding the association will file for arbitration if they aren't given the terms of the agreement.

The employees agreed to change to one health care provider, saving the town $600,000 a year. That clause has been enacted.

What the employees are looking for is retroactive pay and for their new wages to appear on their paychecks.

"We bargained in good faith and now you go back on your word," O'Neill said.

Mike Binda, secretary for the employees union, reminded the board of the employees' dedication to the department.

"Last year we had that monstrous storm and these guys worked 22, 12-hour days in a row while their houses were underwater," Binda said. "All we are asking for is what's fair."

A few weeks ago the board discussed the issue at a work session, in which Personnel Director Robert McCarthy and Comptroller Frank Belliotti said a series of paperwork for each employee had to be completed to determine the correct amount of retroactive pay.

On Monday, Belliotti said the next paycheck should reflect the new rates.

He said the issue with the retroactive pay is that the contract doesn't include a date on when that starts. Belliotti said Mohan and the highway employees are both claiming different years.

When completed, the wage increases with the contract will total an approximate 9 percent increase.

The employees handed out fliers prior to the meeting, stating, "To date the town has failed to live up to any part of our agreement."

The union represents 162 employees that have been operating without a contract since January 2006. Negotiation procedures were often criticized by both sides of the table until a contract was completed in July 2007. The highway employees and the Town Board both voted on the contract in August 2007. That contract will expire in 2010.