NAUGATUCK — The Board of Mayor and Burgesses voted against a proposed police union contract 6-3 with one abstention Tuesday night at Town Hall.
Only Mayor Robert Mezzo and burgesses Alexander Olbrys and Michael Bronko voted for the contract, which has caused contention in executive session meetings. Although details of the pact have not been shared publicly, those close to the situation say burgesses who voted against it have been upset about some of the benefits union members receive, including the opportunity to be reimbursed for college classes and language that calls for educational requirements to apply for certain administrative positions.
As a rule, borough officials do not discuss contract negotiations.
Officer Colin McAllister, police union president, said he and the union members were “disappointed to learn that the board failed to ratify the tentative agreement due to election year politics.”
“This agreement was a fair contract struck at the bargaining table,” he said. “However, the union is comfortable moving forward and taking the union’s case to arbitration.”
Burgess Robert Burns Sr. abstained because his grandson is a Naugatuck police officer.
