MILL CREEK METROPARKS Police mull pact matching AFSCME's

Employee contributions for health care are 'inevitable,' a union leader said.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- The Mill Creek MetroParks commissioners have told park police they can get the same labor contract as park maintenance workers if they agree to the same terms by mid-April.
On Tuesday, the board authorized its executive director, Susan Dicken, to enter into a collective bargaining agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police if its membership ratifies by April 15 the terms of the park's agreement with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Members of AFSCME ratified, and the park board approved, a three-year agreement earlier this month in which the union's 17 maintenance workers will get pay increases of 3 percent in the first year, 2 percent in the second year and 3 percent in the third year.
Health care
For the first time, the AFSCME workers agreed to begin making contributions toward their health-care premiums of $50 a month for the family plan and $25 a month for the single plan.
Park Treasurer David Christy declined to say what would happen if the FOP membership doesn't ratify an agreement by April 15.
"It's inevitable for everybody" to contribute something toward health-care premiums, said Carylon Grimaldi, a park patrol officer and the FOP's union representative.
"We want the park to be fiscally responsible, and we want to do our part to help them out," Grimaldi said, noting that tax revenues for the park have suffered because of the lagging local economy.
The FOP has only had two or three meetings with the park administration since January because of scheduling problems with the park's attorney, the FOP's Columbus representative and the federal mediator, Grimaldi said. The FOP's contract expired Jan. 1. No new talks have been scheduled, she added.
Straight-time annual pay for the nine full-time park police the FOP represents ranges from about $28,000 to about $36,000 a year. There's little overtime, except for holidays and days when officers call in sick, she said. Park police don't get shift differential, hazardous duty or longevity pay, she added.
The board conducted a special meeting because member M. Virginia Dailey said she couldn't attend the regular meeting that had been scheduled for April 12.
The April 12 meeting has been canceled, and the next regular park board meeting will be at 7 p.m. May 10 at the MetroParks Farm in Canfield.