Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media a resolution to authorize summer work hours for the Greene County Highway Department has been approved by the county Legislature by a narrow margin. The changes have been implemented each summer since 2008, changing highway workers’ schedules from five eight-hour work days to four ten-hour work days. The approved changes will go into effect June 3 and run until Aug. 30. County highway workers have been working without a contract for five years. Donald K. Maben, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 968A, submitted a letter to the Legislature in April, outlining the union’s dissatisfaction with the ongoing contract negotiations. The local and the county are currently in arbitration over various issues. A major sticking point for the union is the switch to a new insurance plan. Workers are unable to afford the out-of-pocket costs on the new plan, Maben said. “We haven’t had a raise in over a decade,” he said, adding the base salary for highway workers is $34,000. Maben's letter was offensive to some county legislators and was the reason for the close vote on summer hours, according to Trafton. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.