Ad Hoc Committee Meeting on DMEA Collective Bargaining Agreement - August 26, 2026
Ad Hoc Committee Meeting on DMEA Collective Bargaining Agreement - August 26, 2026
The Ad Hoc Committee convened on August 26, 2026 at 5:30 PM to review the financial aspects of the ratified Danbury Municipal Employee Association (DMEA) collective bargaining agreement. The council's sole statutory role is to approve or deny the request for funds. However, the 30-day voting timeline expired on August 23, 2026, deeming the contract automatically approved under Connecticut General Statutes 7-474B. The meeting proceeded for informational purposes and to allow committee members to ask questions.
Discussion Items
- Statutory Deadline and Council Role: Corporation Counsel clarified that the contract was deemed approved as of August 23, 2026, due to the missed deadline (contract submitted July 14, 2026; council had 30 days from July 24 to vote, expiring August 23). Committee members expressed concern about missing the timeline and the lack of opportunity for an informed vote.
- Financial Overview: Dan (finance/HR) presented a breakdown: the general wage increase accounts for approximately 95% of total increases. For fiscal year 2627, the total increase is $229,000, of which $210,000 is from the general wage increase (2.285%). Medical and dental changes are expected to wash out within $2,000–$3,000.
- Information Requests: Councilmembers sought details on which positions are covered by the agreement, the number of employees, and the specific changes in benefits (e.g., bereavement leave, four-day work week). They noted that such information was not provided prior to the August 4 council meeting and that follow-up calls were not returned.
- Four-Day Work Week: A councilmember raised concerns about the four-day work week provision, arguing it was originally approved on temporary grounds (oil price savings) but has been built into the contract. He suggested renegotiating it to allow staggered days to keep City Hall open five days a week.
- Scope of Council Oversight: The chair and ex officio member emphasized that the council's authority is limited to approving funding, not the contract provisions. The committee cannot second-guess negotiation terms.
Key Outcomes
- Motion for Retroactive Approval: The committee voted unanimously (all in favor) to send the DMEA contract back to the full City Council for approval nunc pro tunc (after the fact) as a show of support, despite the automatic approval. The motion was made and seconded, passing without opposition.
- Information Request: The committee requested that the city administration provide a list of how many employees are covered by the agreement and their positions, to be shared before the next council meeting.
- No Further Action: Since the contract is already deemed approved, the committee's recommendation is advisory; the full council will address the matter at its next meeting.
Meeting Transcript
All right. I don't think we're waiting for anybody else, so I'll call this ad hoc to order. This ad hoc is convening on August 26th at 5 30 p.m. to go over the collective bargaining agreement for the Danbury Municipal Employee Association contract that has been ratified. And it is our job to uh approve the finances. With that said, I'm Frank Salvatore and the chair. I have Diane Lepine and Candice Faye, councilwoman as my co-committee chair members. We have ex officio in the room. Presidente Peter Bazid. And I only do that because he hates when I do that. And from the mayor's office, we have T Dot O'Brien. We have Dan, Joanne, and Kara just walked in. And we have Tom Brown from the community here. With that said, I'm going to just open up to Corporation Council to make sure I understand, and let's get it out on the table. What our role as the city council is when it comes to collective bargaining. It's very limited role. The sole role that the council has is to approve or deny the request for funds. At this point, however, the timeline for approving or denying has passed. And the so it's automatically deemed approved. You have 30 days. So we submitted it on July 14th. The deadline was July 24th. From July 24th, you have 30 days to vote on it. In this case, that would have been August 23rd. So as of August 23rd, pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes 7-474B, it's deemed automatically approved. Okay. And so to allow the council to be able to ask questions because an ad hoc was called for. We are still meeting today. But we need to make sure that we understand that it's the financial package. One of the things that I had asked Dan to do was to give us a little bit more of an insight to the package so that we could have a little bit more information. He agreed to bring that with him for us today. So we'll ask that he hand that out, and this is for our edification. With that said, um before I open it up for the three of us to ask questions. Dan, is there anything you wanted to add about the financial part of the package? Um well the the general wage increase is the majority of the increase, uh, about 95% of uh the total increases is strictly from that. And then see the other areas that uh are increasing. But uh 2627, 229,000 total increase for the year, 210 of that is from general wage increase. Okay. All right. And thank you for doing this for us. I appreciate that. And obviously, we're just I didn't get to pass it out before this, so I'm glad you had it here for us to look at. Uh Taylor, did you want to say anything from the mayor's office? Uh the negotiating table, I'll be mindful and not being able to share specifics, but um, you know, I appreciate all the employees at DMEA makeup, many employees in this building and throughout the city, so just their their worth and worthiness of uh these wage increases that I hope the council will approve. And I have one question. Um the wage increases. Um what was the percentage again? I believe it was listed somewhere at two point 285. 285, that's pretty close to what we're giving in the hospital. So that seems fair.
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