Caledonia Argus

City council appproves labor agreements

Posted: 10/1/02

by Jane Palen
Managing editor

In a special meeting Monday evening, the Caledonia City Council approved contracts with the Caledonia City Police and the members of the newly formed Caledonia Employees Association. Negotiating on behalf of the city were Mayor Robert Burns and Councilman Paul Fisch.

The cityís contract with the police department calls for the addition of one paid holiday for a total of 11 per year. The day after Thanksgiving is now considered a paid holiday. Other holidays are New Yearís Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidentís Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day. Independence Day, Labor Day, Veteransí Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Under the new agreement also calls for a wage increase of about 3.5 percent. Full time officers at Step 1 in 2002 will start at $14.13 per hour, and in 2003 the starting wage will be $14.62. The top wage for a full-time officer with more than five yearís experience (Step 6) will be $19.35 for 2002 and $20.03 for 2003.

For part-time officers, the basic rate for 2002 is $13.97 and for 2003 it will be $14.46. At Step 2, the wage in 2002 will be $15.01 and the basic rate in 2003 will be $15.54.

When a part-time officer is on duty, a full-time officer must be on stand-by. The new stand-by rate is $3.75 per hour, up from $3.25.

Mileage reimbursement for instances where the officers must use their own cars is 37 cents per mile.

Another change is that officers will now get a uniform allowance of $550 per year for 2002 and $575 per year for 2003. Any of the money that is disbursed and not used for uniforms must be returned.

Sick time for the police will accrue at 10 hours per month or 120 hours per year to a maximum of 960 hours. Anything over 960 hours will be paid out in cash at the rate of 20 percent of the hourly wages.

The police officers were not able to keep the insurance they had had previously and needed to be moved to a different carrier, which increased their deductible from$100 to $200. Lifetime maximum is now $3 million as opposed to the unlimited benefits available under the previous plan.

The council voted 5-0 in favor of the contract. The contract is retroactive to January 1, 2002.

Contract with city employees approved

The council also voted on a contract with city employees, who for the first year have an employee association.

The new three-year contract with city employees calls for a wage increase of 40 cents per hour for 2002 (retroactive to July 1), 40 cents per hour for 2003 and 50 cents per hour for 2004 for association members.

The contract also places a 20 hour cap on the amount of compensation time that can be accrued. Comp time is accrued at 1.5 times the number of overtime hours. Also, under the terms of the agreement, comp time cannot be used in combination with paid hours in order to collect overtime or accrue additional compensation time.

The amount of vacation employees will be given was a source of some disagreement among council members. Under the new contract, tier 1 employees (those hired prior to August 1, 2002) will accumulate vacation time at the rate of five days per year in the first year; ten days per year for the second through ninth year; 15 days per year for the tenth through the 15th year; 20 days per year for the 16th through the 20th year of employment, 25 days per year for the 21st through the 25th year and 30 days per year after 26 years.

For tier 2 employees, those hired after August 1, vacation accrual is the same with the exception that it is capped at 25 days per year.

Councilman John Klug questioned whether the he amount of vacation was excessive.

ìIt would be interesting to see what we are paying for the whole package,î he said.

Mayor Burs remarked that in negotiations, it is hard to take away benefits that the employees already enjoy without giving something in return.

In the area of health insurance, the city will pay the full cost of the premiums for tier 1 employees and 90 percent of the premium for tier 2 employees. Health insurance premium increases will be absorbed by the city.

New for city employees will be longevity pay. For 5-10 years of service, the pay will be $15 per month; for 10-15 years, it will be $20 per month and after 15 years, it will be $25 per month. The longevity pay will be distributed in December of each year.

City employees will receive 11 paid holidays per year. They are the same as the police association with the exception of the day after Thanksgiving. Instead of that day, city employees will get one-half day on Christmas Eve and one-half day on New Yearís Eve.

The council voted 3-2 to accept the contract with John Klug and Randi Vick voting in the negative.

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