A dispute in Massena, NY, going back to August over the installation of cameras in the Town Hall has been settled. Town Supervisor Joseph D. Gray said that officials wanted to install cameras in public buildings to ensure the safety of employees as well as visitors. But Mickey S. Smith, business agent for the Teamsters Union Local 687, questioned why cameras would be put in areas not accessible to members of the public.

Mr. Smith said union members were concerned that the cameras would be used more for surveillance than for security, to spy on employees while they are on the job.

Town officials should negotiate with union leaders to have language put into their contract indicating the purpose of the cameras being used, he said.

The union filed a grievance over the issue. But representatives of the town and union reached an agreement on language nearly two weeks ago and the grievance has been dropped.

The contract now stipulates that the cameras are to be used to provide greater security, not as a surveillance method on employees.

Everyone seemed to be happy with the result.

“We negotiated language that said these cameras can’t be used for disciplinary purposes except for in three instances: violence in the workplace, sexual harassment, and criminal activity,” Mr. Gray was quoted as saying in a Dec. 19 story in the Watertown Daily Times.

“If they (the cameras) are for safety and security of the people working there, we have no problem with that. And that’s what the wording in this contract ensures,” Mr. Smith said, according to the story.