State employees who work in the executive branch bargaining unit
approved a new two -year contract Monday night.

Tim Belcher, executive director of the Maine State Employees Association,
said all four groups — administrative; operations, maintenance and
support; professional/technical; and supervisory — approved their
contracts.

Combined, those groups represent about 10,000 state workers.

The agreement, which takes effect July 1, calls for workers to get a $700
lump sum payment in July and a 2 percent raise in 2008. Workers will also
go up a step on the pay scale, resulting in a raise that is closer to 4
percent in the second year of the contract.