Richard Moody is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Columbia County Board of Supervisors will vote June 13, to approve a four-year collective bargaining agreement with the United Public Service Employees Union, its largest employee union. The UPSEU represents highway department workers, and social services and probation staff, among others. Those employees are currently working without a contract, which expired Dec. 31, 2017. "Under the circumstances, ...we came out with a good contract, and we recommended ratification. The union ratified the contract with a landslide vote,” UPSEU Regional Director Kathy Wright-Muzio said. The agreement will provide pay raises through Dec. 31, 2021, with a 1.5 percent increase for 2018, 1 percent in 2019 and 2 percent in 2020 and 2021. The pay raises are retroactive to January 1. The county also agreed to a specialty drug pact that will help mitigate the cost of medications used to treat complex chronic disease. The new contract will also require new employees to pay a 20 percent premium co-share for health benefits across the board for both single and family plans. That change will be phased in over several years. “I think it is a fair contract for both the county and the employees,” Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chairman Matthew Murell said. The full Board of Supervisors will meet 7:30 p.m., Wed., Jun. 13, at 401 State St., Hudson. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.