Vineland to repay unions for two-month salary step freeze

    Vineland, N.J., Mayor Robert Romano will begin today to repay the city’s four unions whose salary steps have been frozen for the last two months. Repayment will being for the Firemen’s Mutual Benevolent Association Local 49 and Local 249, the Police Benevolent Association and the Vineland Superior Officers Association.

    The police and fire unions filed a complaint when Romano halted the tenure-based pay increases when the contract expired, though the contract stated all terms must be honored unless a new contract is agreed upon.

    As the Daily Journal reports, the FMBA Local 49’s complaint to the Public Employee Relations Commission won’t be repealed, as the union still wants the disinterested opinion and says the mayor has pulled the same move in the past.

    It’s not clear how much money has been withheld, but Romano still faces the task of keeping salaries under the 2 percent cap.

    • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

    WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

    Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

    Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal