Aqua PA, Union Workers Agree on New Contract

and 32BJ SEIU, the union that represents nearly 300 Aqua employees, came to a contract agreement announced Tuesday.

The new contract, which the union said includes wage increases, healthcare and other job protections, will expire Sept. 30, 2013, according to a 32BJ SEIU press release.

“The men and women who work hard to keep our water running have protected family-sustaining jobs,” 32BJ SEIU Mid-Atlantic District Director Wayne MacManiman wrote in a press release Tuesday. “Helping workers better support their families and communities is a critical step towards our economic recovery.”

Contract negotiations had been going on since November, MacManiman said at . Workers picketed in front of the W. Lancaster Avenue headquarters several times this winter, calling the then-proposed healthcare premiums unaffordable.

Aqua America spokeswoman Donna Alston told the Philadelphia Business Journal the company is pleased with the agreement.