Freetown Select Board Approves Two Union Contracts Covering Clerical and Dispatch Workers

FREETOWN — October 21, 2024 — Freetown Select Board unanimously ratifies two three-year union contracts and clears a long agenda of town business. The board approved successor collective bargaining agreements with Public Employees Union Local 272 covering both clerical/library staff and dispatchers, effective July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2027; Town Administrator Debbie Carvalho said the dispatchers' deal breaks new ground with a 3 percent second-shift and 6 percent third-shift night differential, while the clerical agreement replaced a uniform provision with tightened dress-code language. The board appointed Kathy Talit to the Council on Aging board from among three applicants, following a recommendation from the COA itself, and approved a $24,400 formula grant spending plan to sustain a weekly senior lunch program that Carvalho said already has a waiting list. Members also voted to recommend revising the special town meeting Article 3 funding figure down by $1,900 to $41,738.74 — reflecting the dropped uniform cost — and to pass over Article 15 on HR software for lack of a Finance Committee report.