Fallsnewspress.com - Accord gives patrol, support officers raises

by Steve Wiandt

Reporter

Cuyahoga Falls -- City police patrol officers and community support officers are getting a raise as a result of City Council's approval of their union contract on June 22.

Members of the Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association Blue Unit will receive a 2.5 percent raise retroactive to July 1, 2008; a 2.25 percent raise retroactive to Jan. 1; and a 2.25 raise on Jan. 1, 2010.

The contract starts on July 1, 2008 and ends Dec. 31, 2010.

An agreement was reached after "long and spirited" negotiations, said Virgil Arrington Jr., the city's law director. He said negotiations went into fact finding, and when the fact-finding report came out in April, the union objected. Arrington said negotiations came close to going into conciliation.

Negotiations were delayed due to the members changing unions from the Fraternal Order of Police to the OPBA.

The union "overwhelmingly" approved the agreement the week of June 15, he said, adding there are between 60 and 70 members in the bargaining unit. This was the sixth and final union contract that needed approved in the city.

A union representative did not return a call for comment by press time.

This contract is the same as that approved with the police supervisors' union, Arrington said, except two steps in the pay scale were changed. He said the union complained it took too long to reach the wages comparable with other departments, so the steps at 8 and 13 years were changed to 7 and 12 years.

The new contract's health care insurance provides a 90/10 split between the percentage the city pays and the percentage the employee pays, after the deductible for in-network services, and a 70/30 split for non-network services.

The maximum out-of-pocket cost, excluding deductibles and co-pays, is $1,000 for an individual/$2,000 for a family in network, or $2,500/$5,000 out of network. Deductible is $150/$300 in network, except office visits; $200/$400 out of network. Effective Jan. 1, 2010, deductibles will increase to $200/$400 in network and $400/$800 out of network.

The previous contract's benefits included a 90/10 percent payable after deductible in network; 70/30 out of network. The maximum out-of-pocket cost excluding deductibles and co-pays was $750/$1,500 in network, or $2,000/$4,000 out of network. Deductible was $100/$200 in network, except office visits; $200/$400 out of network.

Originally running from July through June, this new contract was aligned with the calendar year. Now all six of the city's bargaining units have contracts that run from January through December.

E-mail: swiandt@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3141

1.	Posted by thepigscommitted June 30, 2009
	..."A union representative did not return a call for comment by press time"...no wonder! The patrol officers' negotiating team should be ashamed of themselves for taking a year to fight such reasonable increases in the cost of their health care coverage while garnering such mundane pay increases. What, were they afraid of layoffs or something? I hope they were on the union's time clock and not the City's during such robust negotiations. Sorry, Virge, but your interpretation of "spirited" based on the facts of this article just won't cut it with the Dog Pound crowd, eh? So, um...Steve? Just how many members are there to this bargaining unit and exactly how many of them are union members and how many of them are 'free-riders', he?