Local News

Homewood approves new contract with public works union

The Homewood village board approved a new collective bargaining agreement with a municipal employees union at its Sept. 8 meeting.

The village’s new contract, for Department of Public Works employees represented by the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is for a term of five years. The last contract ended May 1, 2020 and the new one will expire April 30, 2025.

The new agreement includes a 2 percent wage increase for the current year and wage negotiations in 2021 and 2023. There will be no negotiations in 2022 or 2024.

Workers carrying a pager who are available for on-call duty will receive a $25 increase to $150 per week.

Employees called back to work after 1 a.m., or who work later than that, are allowed to come in later than the scheduled start of their shift, up until 11:30 a.m. The new agreement allows those workers to bank 18 hours per year to rest in order to safely return to work. That’s an increase from 16 hours in the previous agreement.

In other business, the board approved the sale of a property at 18462 Dixie Highway for $20,000. Homewood foreclosed on the property based on liens. The village paid $24,000 for asbestos removal, demolition and legal fees preparing the land for sale.

The board also approved a $1.79 million bond issuance first discussed in July. The rate is 0.85 percent. Finance Director Dennis Bubenik said it is the lowest rate the village has ever had on general obligation bonds. The village will pay about $31,000 in interest. Bubenik said the bonds will be repaid in three years. The money will fund projects including a new ambulance, lighting on Martin Avenue and a sewer project on Ridge Road, among other things.

Ellen Dreyfus was reappointed to the town’s ethics commission and Tony Greep to the tree committee. Both are three-year terms ending in the September 2023. 

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