Seven months of negotiations have produced a four-year contract … announced today (Tuesday) by the governor’s office and AFSCME Council 31. Anders Lindall is a spokesman for the 35,000-person union.

“In this agreement not only do we increase wages (and) control health care costs,” said union spokesman Anders Lindall, “but we also have established joint labor-management collaboration (to) try to streamline the state hiring process. We have seen staff shortages throughout state government, overreliance on overtime, even forced overtime, so adequately staffing state agencies is a top priority.”

Voting on the four-year deal, retroactive to July 1, took place over the past two weeks, with the vote for ratification “overwhelming,” said Lindall.

Were the negotiations painful or a breeze? Lindall says about in the middle.