RUMFORD — The Board of Selectmen approved a three-year contract with the Public Works union following an executive session Dec. 17.

Selectmen also approved a memorandum of agreement with unions representing town employees to continue discussing the transition to biweekly payroll.

Town Manager John Madigan said the contract, with American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 93, Local 1458-04, is retroactive to July 1. The contract will be formally signed at the board’s next meeting Jan. 7.

He said the agreement includes wage increases of 1.5 percent in each of the first two years, and a 2 percent raise for the third year.

Madigan said there was an agreement that employees would work four 10-hour days instead of a five-day week during the summer. Included in the agreement is a provision for sick and vacation days.

“If someone took a sick day or a vacation day on a 10-hour day, they would have earned eight hours of a sick day or eight hours of a vacation day,” he said.

Single employees will now pay a share of health insurance premiums. Beginning next July, it will be 5 percent, and will increase to 10 percent the following July. Until now, Madigan said the town has always paid all of the health insurance premiums for single employees. Employees will continue to pay a share of the family health insurance.

Negotiations had been ongoing since before the last contract ended.

Regarding the biweekly payroll issue, Madigan said, “I met with all three unions together, and fire, police and Public Works all agreed to a memorandum of agreement with selectmen to continue discussing that issue.”

He added, “The main issue is if we change it for anybody, it’s going to be all employees with any biweekly payroll. It’s got to be all or nothing.”

The Feb. 1 deadline previously set by the board to implement biweekly payroll likely won’t happen.

“More likely, with two unions to negotiate, and then at some point a change in the town’s personnel policy with the nonunion employees, it’s likely it may take place by July 1, in the summertime when people don’t have to pay things like oil bills,”  Madigan said.

Fire and police contracts expire June 30, 2016.

Madigan said the union representing the Fire Department has already notified the town that it wishes to renegotiate. The police union has not done so as of yet.

bfarrin@sunmediagroup.net