Schaumburg approves 3-year contract with public works union

Schaumburg trustees have approved a new three-year contract with the village’s unionized engineering and public works employees that’s retroactive to May 1, 2023.

Under the contract, employees earn a 3% salary increase darting back to last May, and 3.5% increases on May 1, 2024 and 2025.

The contract also makes a one-time $2,300 increase to the to the base pay of general maintenance employees and inventory control specialists.

The new contract brings an increased cost of $780,559 to the village over its duration.

According to Schaumburg officials, the contract’s pay adjustments are necessary to keep the village’s jobs competitive with those of comparable communities nearby. Its salary increases are in line with the average 3.24% of those neighboring towns.

Schaumburg Communications Director Allison Albrecht said the delay in the contract’s ratification and approval was due to practical matters such as staffing changes within the union’s membership and negotiators’ availability, rather than any acrimonious issues.

The contract provides payments of $5,000 to employees who retire between April 1 and July 31, to encourage avoidance of delays in recruiting replacements during the snow removal season.

Among the other provisions of the contract, it adds Presidents' Day as a paid holiday, as it is for nonunion village employees, and removes a prior stipulation that only three union members can be certified automotive technicians.