Fall River signs three-year public works Teamsters contract with raises and limits on truck GPS
The deal, subject to union ratification and council funding, would add raises and a $1,000 payment and bar the city from using truck GPS to discipline workers until 2028. The council is also asked to cover last winter's $3.1 million snow and ice overrun.
FALL RIVER Fall River has signed a three-year contract with the Teamsters local that represents its trash, recycling, pothole and plow crews, one that would raise pay, add a $1,000 payment and put limits on how the city can use the GPS units in its public works trucks. Mayor Paul Coogan and Teamsters Local 251 signed the agreement Oct. 13, and the City Council will be asked to fund it on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
The memorandum of agreement would cover the Department of Community Maintenance workers the union represents, including trash collection, patch and potholes, yard waste, recycling, heavy items and mechanics. It would run from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2028, and succeed a contract that ran through June 2025. Under its terms, the agreement is subject to ratification by Teamsters Local 251 and full funding by the City Council.
What the deal would provide
The first year would carry a 2.5% raise with no back pay. In place of retroactive pay, every active member employed at any point from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, would get a one-time $1,000 check. Every grade would add $1.25 an hour, retroactive to July 1, 2026, and operators, concrete and asphalt workers and working foremen would get another $1 an hour on top, for $2.25 in all. A second 2.5% raise would follow on July 1, 2027.
The shift differential would rise to $1.25 an hour, the uniform allowance would go to $1,000, and workers who complete a safety and first aid course would get a $300 stipend. If only one truck is needed to salt or sand, the city would have to call in two employees. Crews who volunteer to work the day after Thanksgiving would earn time and a half plus a floating holiday. If another city union wins a bigger general raise for the same years, the Teamsters could reopen wages, and the two sides would have to meet within 30 days if health insurance contributions jump more than 10% in a plan year.
Rules for truck GPS
A new section would set the terms for GPS in city work vehicles. The city could collect location, travel speed, idling time and length of stops. It could not collect any other data, including audio, video or communications, without first notifying the union in writing and bargaining over it. Access would be limited to the director and supervisor of Community Maintenance and the dispatchers, with Human Resources allowed in only for documented discipline cases, and data would be kept no longer than two years unless an investigation needs it.
The city could not use GPS data to track break times or meal periods. Until Jan. 1, 2028, the data could not be used for discipline at all. After that it could back up discipline for personal use of city trucks, gross safety violations or serious misuse of equipment, such as tampering with the GPS units, but never as the main or only evidence. The two sides would meet by July 1, 2027, to review how the pilot is working.
What it costs
The city puts the cost to the general fund at $36,522 for the 2026 fiscal year, $149,868.03 for 2027 and $57,342.93 for 2028, a total of $243,732.96. In his Oct. 22 letter to the council, Coogan thanked the union for its "willingness to collaborate and reach consensus on Agreements which are favorable to both our employees and the constituents of the City of Fall River."
Last winter's snow bill
The council is also asked to move $3,107,675.80 from the city's General Stabilization Fund to eliminate the deficit in the snow and ice removal budget for the fiscal year that ended June 30. City Auditor Christopher Murphy asked the mayor on Oct. 22 to send the transfer to the council, and Coogan did so the same day.
What happens next
Both items come before the council's regular meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, in the City Council Chamber at One Government Center, or right after the 6 p.m. Committee on Finance meeting if it runs past 7. The council also has $7.4 million in grant awards to accept that night, including $5 million from the state for the reconstruction of Alden Street and $1.09 million from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to keep replacing lead service lines.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every fact comes from the Fall River City Council's Oct. 27 agenda packet: the signed memorandum of agreement with Teamsters Local 251, its fiscal impact statement, the mayor's Oct. 22 letters, the city auditor's Oct. 22 letter, the council orders and the grant orders. We read them on Oct. 23. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar. We are asking the mayor's office and Teamsters Local 251 for comment and will add their answers.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (1)
- City of Fall River: City Council agenda packet, Oct. 27, 2026 (Teamsters Local 251 memorandum of agreement, fiscal impact statement, mayor's and auditor's letters, snow and ice deficit order, grant orders)Clerk's stamp Oct. 23, 2026, 1:21 p.m. Read Oct. 23, 2026.