Aldermen Send Police Unions Back to Negotiating Table

Nashua's Board of Aldermen rejected three of four police union contract proposals presented Tuesday night, with several aldermen citing a lack of equity in the negotiated terms, compared with other settled contracts.

Only the Police Commissioners and Teamsters Local #633 contract was approved by a vote of 11-1, with Alderman Dan Moriarty casting the dissenting vote. Three aldermen were excused due to prior commitments – Alderman Diane Sheehan, Alderman Michael Tabackso and Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja.

Alderman Richard Dowd noted that other unions had all made concessions on health plans as many as two years ago, and his objection to the contracts "was nothing against the police unions," but that it just wasn't fair.

Aldermen Lori Wilshire and Jim Donchess spoke in favor of accepting the proposed contract agreements, with Donchess saying, "it's time to get on with life; are we really going to kill this over six-tenths of one percent?"

Alderman Art Craffey responded to Donchess by saying there are residents who have not seen any increase in their income, and "would kill" for a fraction of a pay increase, many of them struggling to survive in this economy without health benefits at all.

"There are people in the private sector ... who would kill for a .6 percent raise over three years. There are poeple in the private sector who've gone negative over the past three years. Some have gone without raises and seen the cost of living go up continuously," said Craffey. 

Alderman Mark Cookson asked whether the board could accept some of the cost items in the contracts, to avoid rejecting the contract outright, but was told that as presented, the contracts were an all-or-nothing proposal.

The first meeting to review the budget is set for Thursday at 7 p.m. at City Hall. The agenda is linked here.

You can find the full calendar of budget meetings on the city's website, here

A public hearing for the budget is set for June 3, 7 p.m, at Nashua High School