December 13, 2023 By Carol Britton Meyer
School Committee member Kerry Ni, a member of the salary and negotiations subcommittee, shared “good news” at Monday’s SC meeting.
“This morning we reached a tentative agreement on a 2023-2026 contract with Unit C (Custodians and Maintenance), who we started meeting with in late September,” she said. “They were the last of the Hingham Education Association collective bargaining units to start negotiating and the first to reach an agreement, so we collectively were efficient. This was our sixth meeting.”
Ni also talked about the process. “We had good, collaborative discussions, and we believe that this agreement will benefit both the custodians and maintenance employees, as well as the district,” she said. “The subcommittee would like to thank the Unit C negotiating team — Rich Tworig, Al Duquette, and Laura Patnaude — for their collaboration and for their advocacy for their colleagues.”
Ni explained “what’s next.” Both parties will have to ratify the agreement. “All of the Unit C members will vote on it, and then the SC will vote to ratify it,” she said. “We would like to get this done as soon as possible. Since the last contract ended at the end of June, Unit C members have been paid at last year’s rate. Once the contract is ratified by the union and the SC, the members will receive back pay at the increased COLA and we would love to make that happen for them as soon as possible.”
The subcommittee is proposing that the School Committee hold a special meeting to ratify the contract right after the union does “so they can receive their back pay and can begin to be paid at the higher negotiated rate. “