HIGHLAND, NY — Highway workers, the Town of Highland’s only non-elected full-time employees, finally got the contract they wanted after it had been tabled three times.

The contract was first proposed at the town board’s March meeting and passed at its June meeting, after negotiations between the town personnel committee and the workers’ union. It includes the following conditions:

• A longer contract. The contract is for five years. Previous contracts were for only three years.
• Salary increases. Workers are guaranteed a 4 percent salary increase in 2024, a 5 percent salary increase each year from 2025 to 2027, and a 6 percent salary increase in 2028.
• Protection for the town. A financial distress clause stipulates that if the town’s revenue goes down more than 10 percent or incurs infrastructure costs exceeding $200,000, the town has the option to negotiate future-year increases.

Supervisor John Pizzolato predicts that increases in CHIPS funding will help cover the salary increases. CHIPS (Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program) is state program that provides funding to municipalities to build and repair highways, bridges, and other infrastructure not part of the state highway system.

Pizzolato said Highland’s highway workers are currently paid on the lower end of average when compared with neighboring towns. 

Why was the contract held up for so long?

In practice, contract negotiations can take several months or even longer. Some towns are able to resolve agreements quickly, while others may face prolonged talks because of contentious issues or differing priorities.

Highland’s delay echoes other situations in town, in which not all stakeholders had been clued in, with some still needing to review essential documents before proceedings could advance.

March

When Pizzolato first brought the contract to the full board’s attention at the March 15 meeting, Councilwoman Kaitlin Haas expressed concern that negotiations had taken place only between the personnel committee and the union without town attorney Steven Mogel being present.

Mogel recommended that the board table the contract so that he could review it for legal compliance. He stressed that he had “no position with regard to the amount of the increases or any of the policy issues.”

April

The contract was tabled again at the April 9 town board meeting. Mogel had by this time reviewed the contract and told the board he had made “no substantive” changes to the originally proposed contract, merely stylistic edits. But Haas said she had not received the latest version of the contract and was “not comfortable moving forward with ratifying a five-year contract that I just received this evening.” 

Two personnel committee members, Tom Migliorino and Laura Burrell, said they were fine with tabling the matter for full board input. 

May

The contract was back on the agenda on May 14. “We’ve been bouncing this highway contract back and forth,” Pizzolato said. “We’ve been trying to appease everybody with the conditions of the contract.” It was to this end, he said, that the board added the financial distress clause for the town’s protection.

Councilman Jim Akt said he was wary of the cost-commitment of the five-year contract and advocated for keeping it to three years.

These are the town’s only full-time employees, Pizzoloto said, adding, “I think it’s the right thing to do,” especially in light of the rising cost of living.

Burrell said she supported the contract because of inflation. The last contract, which included a 2.5 percent salary increase for each of three years, did a disservice to the highway department, she said.

Haas said the contract does not stipulate employees’ contributions to health insurance increasing over the contract’s five-year period. 

Migliorino made a motion to table the contract again, saying he wanted to “sit down one more time” to review costs that might “affect the bottom line.”

June

Finally, on June 11, the highway contract passed, 3-2. Burello, Migliorino, and Pizzolato voted to approve it, while Haas and Akt voted against.

The highway workers in attendance breathed a sigh of relief and congratulated one another.

Migliorino thanked the highway department for filling in gaps created by short-staffing and for  always being willing and available to pitch in on town duties.