Police union accepts city contract offer

By KREMENA TODOROVA

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM - Police union members accepted a settlement offer by the city, warding off the possibility of mediation, city negotiators said on Friday.

The police contract, which is signed for a three-year term, expired on Dec. 31, 1999. However, the old contract has an extension clause, which means it would stay in effect until a new agreement is sealed in.

Under the settlement, officers would get a 3 to 3.2 percent raise for each of 2000, 2001 and 2002, depending on rank; and an increase in term life insurance coverage, from $20,000 in 1999 to $40,000 in 2000 and $50,000 in 2001-2002.

The settlement also increases the employer match to employees' deferred compensation plans, from a maximum $325 in 1999 to $375 in 2000 and $400 in 2001-2002.

Under the settlement, officers who work on holidays will receive time and a half pay for the hours worked, in addition to holiday pay. Now, they receive straight time pay plus holiday pay.

Other changes are an increase in a "duty allowance" which police receive for "off-duty inconveniences", working rotating shifts or work on weekends; and the addition of two hours of overtime pay when officers receive less than 24 hours' notice of the cancellation of a court appearance.

The changes spell a 4.9 percent increase in city costs for 2000, a 3.6 percent increase for 2001 and a 3.4 percent increase for 2002. In dollar terms, the new contract would cost the city about $98,000 more than the one effective 1997-1999.

"There aren't any drastic changes, nothing major," city negotiator Dan Beranek said. "It's a good agreement that spares us mediation and arbitration."

City Manager Richard Salvati described the talks as "a give-and-take" process, stressing that unlike school districts, cities are not under any deadlines to complete negotiations.

The contract still needs to be approved by the City Council, which is expected to take place Jan. 18.

The police contract is one of two contracts with city employees which expired Dec. 31.

A new agreement with another unionized group, park and street workers, gained final approval Dec. 21. It sealed in a similar wage and benefits package, translating into a total $95,000 increase in city costs.

An additional $52,000, or 3.2 percent, adjustments to pay-and-benefit packages for non-unionized employees, were also approved last December. These adjustments- traditionally similar to raises given to unionized employees- cover only 2000 and are approved on an annual basis.

A contract with the third - and largest- group of unionized employees, public utility workers, does not come up for renewal until Dec. 31, 2001.