Bay City Union Local 542 reaches second tentative contract agreement with the city

BAY CITY — Bay City's largest union group has reached its second tentative contract agreement with the city.

Utility Workers Union of America Local 542 reached the tentative agreement on Friday, said President Pat Sayen.

The union membership is expected to vote on the contract on Jan. 27.

"We're going to encourage the membership to vote to ratify this so we can all move on," Sayen said.

This is the unions

since September to get a new contract with the city.  Membership voted down a new contract on Sept. 9, citing concerns with proposed furlough days.

Sayen declined to say what is in the new contract agreement, but said he is confident that membership concerns have been addressed.

Local 542 has 11 employees who were laid off earlier this year as the city faced a $1.66 million budget deficit. In January, city officials asked all unions and employees to make 10.8 percent in labor cost cuts by July 1 or face layoffs.

Only one union, the city's firefighters, made that deadline. The Bay City Commission later extended the deadline to have laid-off workers brought back to today if a contract was ratified. UWUA Local 541 ratified a contract in August and brought back one laid off employee, city officials said.

Sayen would not say if the latest tentative agreement will bring back any of the laid-off workers.

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