AMHERST — A new three-year contract for the Amherst Department of Public Works Associations will improve pay, reduce turnover and minimize understaffing, while enhancing service to the public, according to the union president.

After close to a year working under an expired contract and nearly 18 months of negotiations, as well as two public labor rallies on the North Common in March and one speak-out before members of the Town Council, the 60 employees on May 20 ratified a deal that extends to June 30, 2028.

The contract calls for 2% cost-of-living increases in each of the three years, though many employees will also get an additional 3% boost in pay each year as some lower steps on the pay scale are removed and new top steps are added annually.

Andrew Brace, union president and division director for the wastewater treatment plant, described the process as “a long tough road” to reach this outcome.

“We are eager to see what the future will hold following ratification of this contract and hope that this is a stepping stone for further progress in following contracts,” Brace said.

Town Manager Paul Bockelman expressed appreciation for the public works employees.

“DPW employees do some of the hardest work in town and seldom get the appreciation they deserve,” Bockelman said. “I thank them for the work they do seven days a week.”

Bockelman said the contract changes are incorporated into his fiscal year 2027 budget proposal that is before the Town Council, including the 2% cost-of-living increases, investments to raise entry level pay rates, providing additional salary growth for experienced employees, and making targeted adjustments in positions requiring special licenses.

Part of what allowed a deal to be reached, and salaries to be improved, was projected lower expenses in other areas of municipal spending, such as health insurance rates and retirement. Bockelman said there were frank and challenging discussions, but he credits Human Resources Director Melissa Loiodice-Walker and Kay Zlogar, who handles labor relations, for bringing the negotiations to a successful conclusion.

Brace said some of the provisions in the new contract include several position reclassifications that begin to address longstanding pay disparities, and adjustments of pay charts for all members in the bargaining unit, including a deletion of some of the lower steps in the wage scales, with the corresponding expansion of the top steps in these scales.

Removing the lower steps only affects a handful of workers, Brace said, but should help with recuitment as no one will start that low, and there are incentives for workers to stay to move up the pay scale.