Council OKs fact finder's report

The biggest issue between the two parties was wages, a fact finder said.
BY AMANDA GARRETT
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- City council approved a fact finder's report for a new contract with police dispatchers Wednesday.
Eleven dispatchers represented by the Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association have worked without a contract since Dec. 31.
Union members already voted to approve the fact finders report. The membership and city council must now set dates to vote on the contract as a whole.
Union and city officials met March 27, but they could not reach a tentative agreement in nine areas, including wages, benefits and hours of work, according to the report by fact finder Dennis M. Byrne.
Wages
The most contentious issue between the two parties was wages, Byrne wrote.
The patrolmen's association asked for a 7 percent raise in the first year of the contract and a 3.5 percent raise for the remaining two years of the contract. The city offered a 1.5 percent raise for each year of the contract. Byrne suggested a 2.5 percent raise for each year, writing that it was a fair solution for both parties. The city, he wrote, faces an uncertain economic future but has never raised an inability-to-pay argument.
The average dispatcher makes 17.50 per hour, Human Resources Director Gary Cicero said.
Retirement system
Byrne also agreed with the union regarding the Ohio Public Employees' Retirement System contribution and the amount of the uniform allowance.
Byrne rejected the city's request to continue to pay 8 percent of the employees' obligation to the state retirement system even though the required contribution is expected to rise to 10 percent by 2008.
Byrne also allowed the union to increase its uniform allowance from 150 to 200 per year because that is comparable to what similar police departments in Ohio receive.
However, Byrne rejected the union's request that each member receive two consecutive days off per week. The department does not have enough dispatchers to make that a practical move, Byrne wrote.
The current schedule requires three dispatchers for each of the three daily shifts and two "floaters" who cover for sick time and vacation time.
agarrett@vindy.com