Members of Local 108 in Anderson, Indiana, ratified a new four-year contract in December that delivers major wage gains, protects benefits and long-standing contract language and demonstrates what focused, member-driven bargaining can achieve. The agreement covers approximately 50 municipal workers across the city’s water and wastewater operations and was negotiated in just three days — a record for the local.
“In the past, it wasn’t unusual for bargaining to take up to a year and a half,” said Adam Goodwin, the local’s president.
Negotiations began on December 10, 2025. By the end of the second session on December 15, the parties had reached agreement on nearly all issues, concluding talks well ahead of the contract’s December 31 expiration. Goodwin said the expedited process reflected a straightforward, focused approach from both sides, shaped in part by current labor market pressures and a shared desire to finalize a fair agreement.
The new contract provides a 25.5% wage increase over four years, including an 8% raise in the first year, followed by two years at 6% and a final-year increase of 5.5%. The bargaining committee also secured a $2-per-hour base pay increase for the unit’s lowest-paid classifications before general wage increases were applied, resulting in a 21.1% pay increase for those members in the contract’s first year.
Additional gains include a $100 increase in the uniform allowance and improved working conditions, with operators’ lunch breaks extended from 20 to 30 minutes — a change that impacts about half the membership.
Equally important, the local successfully rejected management proposals that would have weakened member protections, including attempts to remove time limits on discipline and to impose a 25-year cap on longevity pay, which would have short-changed the local’s most senior members by thousands of dollars.
Goodwin praised the strong team effort by the bargaining committee, and expressed gratitude for the steadfast support of UWUA Senior National Representative Jim Gennett and UWUA President James Slevin.