Hunterdon County authorizes three‑year CWA agreement with 4% annual raises and health‑plan changes

The Hunterdon County Board of Commissioners on April 7 authorized county counsel to sign a three‑year memorandum of agreement with Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1036 covering 2026–2028 that includes general wage increases of 4% in each contract year and changes to employee health benefits.

Administrator Meyer told the board the agreement covers both rank‑and‑file and supervisory units and reflects givebacks in health‑insurance design. "It's a 3 year agreement for '26, '27, and '28. General wage increase of 4% in '26, '27, and '28," Meyer said. He added the county moved employees to a high‑deductible health plan with an HRA component to help mitigate large premium increases the county faced.

Meyer said the county is no longer in the state health benefit plan and now operates a semi self‑insured arrangement with Aetna. "We are a, semi self insured plan with Aetna using the high deductible health plan bridal, and that saved the taxpayers millions over what would have been a general renewal of the state," he said.

During public comment, resident Judy Roth asked how large the new deductible is and how much employees' out‑of‑pocket costs increased. Administrator Meyer and staff responded that the contract language requires coverage "equal to or better" than previous benefits and that the move to an HRA helped offset an almost 30% state increase in premiums this year; specific deductible dollar amounts were not stated in the meeting record and were offered to be provided to the commenter by staff.

The board approved the authorization to execute the MOA by voice and roll‑call votes during the meeting; no member was recorded as voting against the authorization in the meeting transcript. The agreement returns to the board for any implementing actions required by county policy.