Community Corner

City, BOE, Labor Union Settle Lawsuit, 26 Grievances in Global Agreement

Calling it "like untying an incredibly large knot," Middletown Mayor Dan Drew announced more than 30 pieces of litigation brought by city employee union members had ended.

 

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In what he likened to "untying an incredibly large knot," the mayor announced a global agreement with the city, Board of Education and the local labor union to drop one lawsuit and 26 labor grievances brought by city teacher employee union members.

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"More than 30 pieces of litigation between us have been altogether settled," Mayor Dan Drew said at press conference in council chambers Monday.

Last December, Drew said, between three and four labor grievances were settled.

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"There are no more legal issues between the city and the board of education," Drew said. "We are beginning with entirely clean slate." He was joined by Superintendent Patricia Charles, Board of Education Chair Eugene Nocera, President of Local 466 of ASCME's Council 4 Jim Daniels and Council 4 spokesman Ed Thibidault.

"The people of Middletown can rest assured they will not be paying to be plaintiffs and defendants anymore," Drew said, referring to the litigation in Superior Court.

It took nearly a year to get to this point, the mayor said, working with all parties involved. "We just completed recently 11 months of negotiations to take care of issues that have been ongoing for 36 months," Drew said.

In late November, Drew announced the city had successfully negotiated a solution to the labor dispute which arose from board of education staff working at the Middletown High School shelter during October's snowstorm.

"The reason we decided to go with a comprehensive local settlement is to take care of all the issues in one shot," he explained.

All praised the new education board's leaders and the city for their cooperation.

"It was a difficult process at first, but soon it was apparent to members of the board that there was a culture set on all sides to move us forward," Nocera said.

"I am extremely proud to have settled this for the city taxpayers, the mayor, the school district, and the children of the community," Daniels said.

There will be a special meeting of the common council Tuesday evening to request an appropriation of $259,533 and approve the settlement. The board of education unanimously approved the settlement last week, the mayor said, and the court has been expecting it.

Under former Mayor Sebastian N. Giuliano's six-year leadership, the city saw disputes and a few lawsuits over spending irregularities and the hiring of a business manager.

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