South Kingstown Council ratifies three-year AFSCME contract covering 49 town employees

The Town Council on Feb. 24 ratified a three-year collective bargaining agreement between the town and Rhode Island Council 94, AFSCME, Local 1612, covering 49 full‑time employees and effective July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2027.

Town Manager James O’Neil introduced the agreement and thanked the union negotiating team and town staff for the process. “This team was very respectful in how they negotiated,” O’Neil said, and he invited union leaders to the meeting to be recognized.

Luke Murray, the town’s labor negotiator, described the contract as “a rewrite of a contract to help the town for the next time that we negotiate” and said the agreement includes a variable first‑year wage adjustment followed by 2% increases in years two and three, new skill‑based pay incentives, changes to vacation and bereavement leave, and other amendments to modernize job classifications and benefit administration. Murray told the council the rewrite aimed to bring many provisions into alignment with other town contracts and to address recruitment and retention.

Brian Sylvia, the town’s fiscal analyst, summarized the financial effects. He said the package’s negotiated costs over three years total about $660,000, and after allocating costs to enterprise funds (notably wastewater), the general fund’s share is roughly $465,000 over the three‑year period. “Year 1 … the fiscal impact is about $348,000,” Sylvia said, adding that $235,000 of that was projected to hit the general fund in the first year and that the general‑fund impact would decline in years two and three.

Council members thanked union representatives and staff. There was no recorded roll‑call discussion of individual council votes; the mayor called for the vote and commissioners answered in the affirmative. The motion to approve the contract carried.

The agreement replaces the prior terms for a mix of trades and operations staff, including wastewater, highway, dispatch and parks personnel, and incorporates a retention pay program paid into regular paychecks, an expanded dental dependent benefit to age 26, a consolidated sick‑time donation bank, and a skills‑incentive table attached to the contract.

Council President Rory McEntee and other members said they supported the contract as a balance between the town’s fiscal responsibility and fair compensation for employees.

The contract was entered into the town record with a directive that town management incorporate the new wage and benefit changes into departmental budgets and the fiscal forecast for the coming years.