Bath town board OKs three-year union contract
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER ADVOCATE

BATH - It took about six weeks to negotiate a new three-year contract between the Town of Bath and the union representing highway department workers.

The agreement, ratified this week by the Bath town board, provides for a four-percent annual pay increase over the term of the contract. It also allows highway crews to work half-days on Christmas and New Year's eves, although in the event stormy weather forces a full day, no overtime will be paid.

Town Supervisor Fred Muller said negotiations between the town and the Teamsters Union began in early August. "Basically it was renewing the old contract for another three years," he said.

Highway workers voted to join the Teamsters in 2002, and negotiations under then- Supervisor Jim Heffner began between the town and the union. The talks lasted two years, with parties agreeing to their first contract in 2005.