October 24, 2001

Two hundred fifty city workers in Vero Beach, Florida began working under a new contract yesterday, as the city council finally approved a one-year labor agreement that the Teamsters members had approved in late September 2001. 

“We are glad that this is official now, and that it was approved in the fashion it was,” said Mike Scott, Business Agent for Teamsters Local 769 in Miami, Florida. “It is a good labor agreement.”

Teamsters members will receive a four percent wage increase and for those members who work second and third shifts, there will be an additional shift-premium paid of 25 cents to one dollar-per-hour increase. Teamsters members who take on additional duties will be paid bonuses.

The last contract the union approved with the city was a three-year contract, but Scott said he would be prepared to head back to the bargaining table in April. “This last contract was actually the first three-year-contract we had,” Scott said. “The rest has been a series of one- or two-year contracts.”