TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT Poland to hire 2 full-time road workers

The new employees were hired under a new tiered system.
POLAND -- Township trustees approved the hiring of two full-time road department employees in a special meeting Thursday.
The two positions bring to eight the number of full-timers in the department. The positions start Jan. 1 at a rate of $10 per hour, plus benefits.
The men hired for the positions have been promoted from part-time status, said Township Administrator James Scharville.
Representing a change
These tiered positions represent a change for Poland Township, Scharville said. The new employees are brought in at a lower wage and will be able to achieve top of the pay scale in six years. Their first year of employment is probationary, Scharville said, and each year they will receive a salary increase.
"It's the same as the way you might serve an apprenticeship in other unions," said Trustee Robert Lidle.
Trustee Mark Naples said several current road department employees are retiring in the next few years and the new tiered system will allow the township to have experienced employees in place as others retire.
"It's great we can do it this way," Naples said. "We'd have never been able to hire them otherwise."
Trustees also approved new three-year contracts with the Teamsters union for three employee unions. Employees in road, zoning and clerical positions will work under a contract that expires Dec. 31, 2007.