The Shumlin administration has brokered a new provisional contract with the union representing employees of the Vermont State Police.
The contract with the Vermont Troopers’ Association lasts for two years, but must be ratified by the union’s membership. The state’s existing contract with the union, which covers pay and working conditions for 327 state police personnel, ends June 30.
The new agreement does not include across-the-board salary increases, but does implement continuing “step increases” in pay, of about 3 percent per year. VTA President Michael O’Neil said the lack of a comprehensive new pay increase wasn’t a surprise.
According to a statement from the Department of Human Resources, Gov. Peter Shumlin and O’Neil noted that the new deal struck a “balance between compensating troopers fairly and addressing budget constraints in a fiscally responsible manner.”
The union previously asked for state troopers and sergeants to be reclassified, in formal filings from December 2012 and March 2013. This meant that the two classes of employees ultimately received a pay raise.
According to the state, the new contract doesn’t burden the state with major new expenses. Existing step increases will cost about $800,000 in fiscal year 2014.
The approved reclassification added about $2 million in payroll costs, but those costs will be absorbed within the pay act and “existing budget parameters,” according to DHR.
Other items addressed in the new contract include the recognition of two special teams, the so-called Clandestine Laboratory and Drug Recognition Expert teams. Troopers already do that work, but not under that specific designation, O’Neil said.
The Clandestine Laboratory team tackles methamphetamine labs – a growing problem in Vermont, according to O’Neil – along with other experimental laboratories. Their members have special training in responding to hazardous labs.
The Drug Recognition Expert team is made up of troopers trained to spot drivers under the influence of drugs. If an ordinary trooper makes a traffic stop and doesn’t know if someone is driving while high, a specialist trooper is called in.
The new contract also increases some health insurance copayments from $15 to $20 per visit.