Riverhead Town Board, union reach agreement for three-year CSEA contract

Riverhead officials and its union employees have come to an agreement on a three-year contract that union leaders say will help new hires and employees on the lower end of the pay scale get a salary increase. 

The Riverhead Town Board voted 4-0 at its March 22 board meeting to ratify and approve a memorandum of agreement with the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) and the town. The deal runs through 2025 and was signed after several months of negotiations that began last fall.

Under the terms of the contract, the base salary lines for all CSEA employees — of which there are more than 170 members, according to CSEA officials — will increase by 5% in the first year and 2% in 2024 and 2025.

At the beginning of the year, each employee received a civil service step increase of 1.25%. In addition, union employees, whose roles range from public safety dispatchers to administrative positions, sewer and water district operators and technicians, will receive a one-time $1,500 supplemental payment. 

Theresa DeFilippis, president of the CSEA, told Newsday the new contract’s most significant addition was the one-time, $1,500 base salary increase, which means that lower-paid employees will see a higher percentage of the salary bump.

With the costs of living and health insurance rising, DeFilippis said giving lower-paid employees a boost in the base salary will help them afford health benefits and worry less about financial burdens. Additionally, it will help to retain employees and potentially attract people to such town jobs, she said. 

“We try to really help the people on the bottom and help the town to bring that starting base pay up to par so we can get people to apply and stay in these jobs,” DeFilippis said. “We’ve had a hard time retaining employment.” 

The previous collective bargaining contract, which ran from 2019 to 2022, saw union employees receive a total 2.5% pay increase during the length of its contract. Compared to the previous deal and other past deals, DeFilippis said the newly inked contract “by far supersedes anything we had.” 

DeFilippis said she felt the final agreement was one that works for both sides. 

“Any negotiation is contentious, but overall, it was very fair and well-played by both parties,” DeFilippis said.

Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar called the deal “a very fair contract, which will bring most employees in par with most other similar salaries lines in Suffolk.”