Published: August 20, 2008 09:20 pm      

COUNTY LEGISLATURE: Deputies new deal is approved

Lewis says new union contract bodes well for future talks

Members of the Niagara County Legislature on Wednesday approved a new contract with Sheriff’s Department road patrol deputies that the county manager believes sets a good precedent for labor deals to come.

County lawmakers unanimously supported a new deal that will provide 102 members of the Police Benevolent Association with retroactive pay increases of 2.5 percent for 2006 and 2007 and 3 percent raises annually from 2008 through 2011.

County Manager Gregory Lewis said the agreement stems from negotiations with union leaders that have been going on since the expiration of the old labor contract at the end of 2005.

The new deal, Lewis said, achieves several goals the county had entering into talks, including a desire to bring all of the road patrol deputies into the county’s self-funded, single provider health insurance plan. The county’s plan already covers members of the Civil Service Employees Association, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, DSA — the union representing corrections officers and E911 dispatchers — as well as all of the county’s non-union employees. The road patrol deputies had previously been covered by BlueCross Blueshield.

Bringing all of the unions under one insurance umbrella and settling on contracts that include similar pay increases for similar terms will allow the county to have a higher level of cost certainty moving forward, according to Lewis.

Lewis said the terms of deal with the road patrol deputies sets a positive trend for negotiations with other county labor unions. He told lawmakers Wednesday that he has tentatively agreed to a deal that would also provide members of CSEA with 3 percent pay increases from 2009 through 2011. He’s hoping to be able to present a final agreement with CSEA to the Legislature in September.

“It’s a package that is fair to our deputies, offering them reasonable pay increases and providing for the needs of those who protect our county’s citizens,” Lewis said. “At the same time, the contract is fiscally responsible to those same citizens and taxpayers.”

In other matters, the Legislature:

n Received an update from Acting Sheriff Samuel Muscarella on a recent disruption in the county’s 911 telephone system. Muscarella said the cause of a July 30 breakdown that forced the system to operate temporarily on backup power is still being investigated.

Sheriff’s candidate and Niagara Falls Chief of Detectives Ernest Palmer questioned the integrity of the system shortly after the incident, suggesting 911 service was disrupted because the county’s central communications system was inadequate.

Muscarella said no 911 calls were lost during the period in question. He said he planned to provide lawmakers with a report on what happened once the investigation has concluded.

“At this point in time we are working very diligently to determine why we lost the power,” Muscarella said.