Teamsters Local 264 has ratified its most recent contract with the Niagara County Sewer District. It’s the sixth union contract Niagara County has ratified for public employees in the past two years.

The contract with the 14 members of Teamsters Union Local 264 at the Sewer District means every county union has an active contract in force for the first time since 2012. The employees work in waste water maintenance and processing.

The agreement, which was ratified on January 17, was lauded by Niagara County Chairman Wm. Keith McNall in is his State of the County Address. “Our labor negotiation efforts have secured responsible contracts—fair to our employees, and fair to our taxpayers,” McNall said. “With a Teamsters contract in place, we will have succeeded in helping secure contracts with all of this county’s labor organizations.”

The contract gives workers who have been on the payroll since 2012 a $3,000 lump-sum payment, plus 2 percent annual raises for 2016 through 2020. Members will begin making monthly contributions to the health insurance premiums this year. Starting in 2019, they will pay 5 percent of the premium or $2,000 a year, whichever is less. New hires will have to pay 10 percent, and a small contribution towards health care in retirement, but current retirees will not be required to pay any additional health care premiums.

“It was five years in the making; we had six different groups with us,” said Bob Banilla, business agent and Secretary-Treasurer of Local 624. “We agreed on the wages, pretty much everything, but the healthcare contribution was the show-stopper. We had one last blow out session with the National Mediation Board, and we got it done. It was a fair deal, we’re glad the committee held strong and we achieved our goals for the members.”

Teamsters Local 264, based in Cheektowaga, New York, represents workers across a wide variety of industries in the Buffalo metropolitan area. 

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