AUBURN – Police and city management are still far apart concerning a new union contract, according to union officials.

The two groups couldn’t reach a compromise after a meeting Friday, said officer Norm Letourneau, treasurer of the Auburn chapter of the Maine Association of Police Officers.

“They made us an offer and it wasn’t the one we wanted,” Letourneau said. “We’ll have to go back again.”

Assistant City Manager Mark Adams is expected to discuss the issue with the City Council at its Aug. 4 meeting. Letourneau said officers would be there as well, to state their case.

“We’re supposed to have another meeting sometime after he meets with the council,” Letourneau said. “We’re giving them that, and then we’ll see what we can do.”

The city is negotiating contracts with the police and public works unions. Both contracts expired June 30.

Union leaders say a proposed increase in monthly health insurance premiums is the biggest sticking point. Those increased costs, coupled with no cost-of-living wage increases for most city employees, would mean cuts in take-home pay. Police officers have started growing facial hair in protest of the city’s offer. Beards and mustaches are frowned upon, according to department policy.

Letourneau said he expects members of the union to meet after Monday’s City Council meeting. They’ll decide their next moves if they haven’t settled the contract by then.

“We can picket and make signs if it comes to that,” Letourneau said.

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