The Human Resources and Information Technology Committee met 05/14/2025. One of the items they took up was a request to approve a side letter agreement with the Teamsters Local Union #662 which will update the collective bargaining agreement for Valley Transit employees to increase the Master Mechanic hourly wage to $35.9866 and remove the ASE certification currently required for that position and to create a Shop Foreperson position that can be paid $3 per hour more than the full Master Mechanic wage. The side letter agreement will be in place until 12/31/2026 when the current collective bargaining agreement with Teamster Local Union #662 runs out and will need to be renegotiated.
The committee ended up voting unanimously to recommend the item for approval.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
Director of Human Resources Jay Ratchman told the committee that the city had a three-year contract with the Teamsters that runs out at the end of 2026. One of the downsides to having a three-year agreement is that, in this case, the hourly wages set out in that agreement for the master mechanic position were not keeping pace with the market. He noted that Appleton’s Department of Public Works has a master mechanic position that pays over $3 more per hour than the positions at Valley Transit.
Valley Transit currently has 4 mechanic positions, but one of those positions has been vacant for nearly a year, which was a big deal. As a result, the city and Valley Transit wanted to be allowed by the Teamsters to offer higher hourly wages for those positions. It did not necessarily mean that they would hire someone at that rate, but it gave them the ability to be competitive and hire someone at that rate if the person’s experience warranted it.
Additionally, they wanted to remove the requirement that mechanics be ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certified. Per Director Ratchman, “Our general manager does not feel that that is a good indicator of someone’s skills for transit. So, by removing that, that kind of removes a barrier for us hiring, because very few people are actually going to come in with that certification.”
Finally, they wanted to rename the Lead Mechanic position to the Shop Foreman position and pay that employee $3 an hour above the master mechanic hourly rate of pay. This change reflects what the lead mechanic position has already grown to be.
Director Ratchman said that getting this agreement in place with the union actually took quite a bit of work. As a side letter, it was only a temporary agreement which would last through 12/31/2026. When it came time to negotiate a new contract with the union, then they would talk about wages in general for all positions. He said this would be necessary for positions at Valley Transit to be competitive so that not only could they fill the empty position but also retain existing staff.
The reason why the side letter agreement took some time to get in place is because, originally, the city wanted to redo the entire scale for the mechanics but the Teamsters felt that was better done at the bargaining table. Additionally the city has wanted to add language that would allow Valley Transit’s general manager to negotiate vacation with prospective employees. Per Director Ratchman, “That’s a really important tool. Police and Fire have it with their union contract. You only use it if someone has experience. We had a candidate who turned us down because we had no ability to negotiate vacation.” It didn’t matter if a prospective new hire had 15 years of experience, under the current agreement with the union new employees started out with only 5 days of vacation. As with redoing the scale for all the mechanics, the Teamsters wanted to leave that item for the bargaining table in 2026.
Alderperson Nate Wolff (District 12) asked if raising the salary to $35.9866 was enough or was Valley Transit still limiting itself. Director Ratchman said he felt that it was a fair wage.
Alderperson Patrick Hayden (District 7) asked if they had looked at alternatives to increasing pay such as helping employees get the ASE certification which would help them move further up the wage ladder. Director Ratchman answered that Valley Transit was already supportive of those who wanted to get the ASE certification and the way they moved up the wage scale was by getting various ASE certifications. Once they are master mechanics, if they have 8 ASE certifications, they go to the top of the pay scale. However, the market was now paying people higher wages whether or not they had ASE certification. He did, however, note, “I believe once we redo the pay scale, ASE certification, if individuals are interested in there will be support for them to do so. If that helps.” He didn’t know if a pay incentive would still be attached.
Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) asked what the fiscal impact of this change would be on future budgets. Did they expect to see any kind of substantial shortfalls in future years? Director Ratchman did not expect that, but the only reasons was that Valley Transit had reduced its number of drivers but wanted to get the number back up to previous levels at some point. As a result, they had not reduced their budget for salaries which meant there were plenty of unused salary dollars available to pay for increased mechanics’ wages.
The committee voted unanimously to recommend the side letter agreement be approved.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1305660&GUID=76A79DB9-25DC-4098-BB53-69B4149A326D
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