AUBURN – The city signed a union deal with police commanders Tuesday, offering them big titles and small pay raises.
The city is in mediation with the 36-plus patrol officers, according to Assistant City Manager Mark Adams.
“Don’t underestimate the importance of this,” Adams said. “This is a big deal for the city.”
The deal is much the same as the contract signed with the public works union in October.
It gives employees a 3 percent raise each year for the next three years, gives them an additional week’s pay in 2005 and changes their health insurance plan. Co-pays for service increase from $10 to $15 under the new plan and employees are liable for 10 percent of extended medical costs, such as hospital fees. The plan they have now pays 100 percent of extended care costs.
That is identical to the contract the city offered last summer, Adams said.
“They decided as a group to be more creative, and approached us with some new ideas,” Adams said.
The plan also gives police commanders new titles. Former sergeants will be lieutenant-patrol supervisors. Lieutenants will become lieutenant-shift commanders.
“It’s still set up pretty much the way it has been,” Adams said. “There are two groups, those that work in the field and those that work primarily in the office. This preserves that, and gives them new titles.”
Rick Coron, who became a lieutenant-patrol supervisor with Monday’s decision, said he and the command staff approached the city after the first mediation session on Nov. 17. Coron is the president of the command staff union.
“We decided we could afford to be a little creative,” Coron said. “We discussed it and put together a way to move around the obstacles.”
Adams applauded Coron and the command staff for showing leadership.
“Leadership like this requires conviction, courage and decisiveness,” Adams said. “The command unit has shown that kind of leadership.”
Detective Chad Syphers, president of the patrol unit of the union, said the commanders’ decision would not affect his group’s negotiations.
staylor@sunjournal.com
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