The custodians' contract mirrors the contracts for other School Department collective bargaining groups.
WEST SPRINGFIELD – The School Committee recently approved a two-year collective bargaining agreement for school custodians that offers no cost-of-living raise for fiscal 2012, the current financial year.
The janitors’ union is the last of the department’s collective bargaining groups to come to an agreement with the School Committee, the board having recently also approved a contract for school nurses. The remaining five unions represent administrators, teachers, clerical workers, food service employees and teachers aides. The contracts mirror each other in terms of cost-of-living increases.
The board voted 7-0 recently to approve a contract with Local 888 of the Service Employees International Union, according to Kevin A. McQuillan, acting assistant school superintendent. It represents about 30 school janitors.
The pact allows for raises in fiscal 2013, which starts July 1 and is the second year of the agreement. It provides for a 1 percent raise immediately in fiscal 2013, followed by another 1 percent raise halfway through the academic year. Both the agreement with the custodians and the nurses include language changes that raise the cost of health insurance co-payments, making such services as an emergency room visit cost employees $100.
McQuillan said the school district is continuing to negotiate for an additional year with the custodians’ union as the rest of the department’s unionized employees have synchronized three-year agreements.
The hourly starting rate for a custodian or housekeeper is $14.63, with the rate increasing to $16.61 an hour after four years. The hourly starting rate for a head custodian or groundskeeper foreman is $18.15 with the rate growing to $22.22 an hour after four years.
The agreement with the nurses is a three-year pact that offers no cost-of-living raises for the current financial year. The board adopted the pact with the local unit of the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
School Department Business Manager Carey G. Sheehan said the second year of the nurses’ contract offers a 1 percent cost-of-living raise to start with and another 1 percent increase halfway through the academic year. The third year offers no cost-of-living increase, but provides for an $800 pay increase for employees at the top salary step.
The pact allows employees to use two of their sick days to stay out of work when a family member is ill.
There are nine full-time school nurses and one part-time school nurse. The starting rate this year for a nurse with a bachelor’s degree is $49,761 and the annual pay for a nurse with a master’s degree and five years experience is $58,076.
Representatives of neither the custodians’ nor the nurses’ union could be reached for comment.