LYNN – More than 18 months of bitter feuding between the city and the Lynn Public Schools Custodian Union is over after the members of AFSCME Local 1736 voted to approve a new contract last week.The official results of the April 17 tally are unclear, as the union has not submitted the vote total to Personnel Director Joseph Driscoll, who did estimate the vote was over two-thirds in favor of the new contract. Driscoll and Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. each confirmed Thursday that the new contract was approved, ending what has been a frustrating year and a half from the city’s point of view.”Last week the members of the union met and another version of the contract was ratified,” he said. “It looks like we have an agreement.”With union members angry about a legislative shift that resulted in maintenance and custodial workers moving from the supervision of Superintendent Nicholas Kostan to that of Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan at City Hall, negotiations have been slow and often heated on both sides.Several members of the union have attempted to sue the city in superior court over the move, while Clancy has repeatedly blasted workers for what he feels is an excessive amount of worker’s compensation claims.Most recently, Clancy had threatened to go in “another direction” if a deal was not reached in time to negotiate the fiscal 2009 budget, a move that could have resulted in the privatization of the custodial staff.Clancy and city officials thought they had a deal in place in early March, but union members had other ideas, crushing the proposal by a 77-21 vote.Clancy said the new contract is similar to the proposal that was recently voted down, but indicated that some changes were made, clearly to the satisfaction of union members.”There were some changes, but the overriding factor was that I think the union understands that this couldn’t lay in limbo any longer,” he said. “This had gone on far too long, people have their livelihood, people have their jobs, people have their careers – there is a lot of years of service down there.”The new contract should result in more of a voice for Donovan, who oversees the entire Inspectional Services Department. Clancy said the decision to move the school custodial and maintenance workers to that department was based on Donovan’s background in construction, which city officials felt would help increase productivity.”A person with a background in building construction and maintenance has a much better handle on how custodial services and maintenance should be administered,” said Clancy. “The school superintendent is an educator, not a person with an engineering or construction background.”Clancy said the contract also allows greater access to school facilities for community groups and organizations that were responsible for paying high costs to cover overtime for workers under the old agreement.By approving the contract now, the union also avoided the lengthy court battle that was on the horizon, which could have been worse if Clancy attempted to privatize the workers.Driscoll said Thursday that Donovan had already began looking into the cost of privatizing the custodians, and hypothesized that the union’s knowledge of those inquiries may have swayed the vote.”Of course I can’t speak for the union members,” he said.Union President Mark Rafftery did not return calls seeking comment.City Attorney James Lamanna said Thursday that the April 30 date has been postponed indefinitely, and the 19 union workers involved in the suit are in the process of signing a petition that would end the court battle.”The court date on the 30th is off indefinitely. At this time the 19 plaintiffs are passing around a petition to see if they want to continue,” said Lemanna. “If 10 of those 19 do not want to be a part of the suit, then it will be dropped. It is the anticipation of the union, their attorneys and the city’s attorneys that at least 10 members will sign the petition and drop the lawsuit.”Clancy