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City, police officers resolve contract dispute
The three-year contract calls for a 10.8-percent salary increase over its life.
YOUNGSTOWN —¬†After more than a year and a half of working without a contract, the dispute between the city and its police patrol officers union is resolved.
It took a binding decision by David M. Pincus of Chagrin Falls, a state conciliator, to resolve the dispute.
The decision mirrors a three-year deal approved in June 2007 by the city with its police ranking officers union on several key issues including salary and health insurance.
Each patrol officer will receive a 10.86-percent salary increases over the life of the contract; 3 percent retroactive to Dec. 1, 2006; 4.5 percent retroactive to Dec. 1, 2007; and a 3 percent raise effective Dec. 1, 2008.
By Dec. 1, 2008, the annual base salary of a patrol officer with at least four years of experience will be $54,383.25.
That’s a 10.86 percent increase from the previous $49,054 annual base salary for those with at least four years of experience. A majority of city patrol officers are in that category.
The city had offered annual pay raises of 1.5 percent for three years. The union wanted annual pay increases of 4.5 percent.
Also, Pincus’ decision increases the monthly health-care insurance contribution for each officer to 10 percent from 7 percent with caps.
The 118-member Youngstown Police Association had worked without a contract since Nov. 30, 2006.
Union President Edward Colon declined to comment on the new deal.
Except for the salary increases, city officials are pleased with Pincus’ decision, said Law Director Iris Torres Guglucello.
When the city approved the same pay raises for the ranking officers union, it had more money than it does now, she said.
Besides the increase in contributions by the patrol officers for health-care premiums, Guglucello pointed to two other provisions that benefit the city.
The binding decision allows the city to hire five part-time auxiliary officers once there are 120 patrol union members. There are currently 118 patrol officers.
The city wants auxiliary officers to supplement police staffing as a cost-effective measure to put more officers on the street.
The decision also permits the city to provide parking to union members at any location as long as it’s free, secure and sufficient.
The city took away most of the union’s parking spaces in a lot next to the police station at city hall in April 2007.
The city provided parking for the officers near the city hall annex, about two blocks from the police station.
The union strongly objected to the move, and even filed legal action in court to stop it. But that effort failed.
A fact-finder issued a nonbinding report in September 2007 that included most of the same key provisions as the conciliator’s decision.
The city accepted the report while the union’s membership overwhelmingly rejected it. That led to the binding decision.
skolnick@vindy.com