Discussion:
The contract with the City's Patrol union expired on December 31, 2016. The City has held several negotiating meetings with representatives of the Sergeants union to arrive at the attached contract.
The negotiated contract includes the following:
1. Article 19 – Post-Employment Health Care Savings Plan
We corrected the amount that is provided to employees on a monthly basis for having our health insurance. It had previously been $25, but was increased to $35 in 2015.
2. Article 21 – Uniforms
We provided a $25 increase in the uniform allowance for the life of the contract. The expired contract’s uniform allowance was $875, this contract will bring it up to $900 for all three years of the contract.
3. Article 25 – Sick Leave
We agreed to allow an employee who has a Sick Leave Bank balance to convert those hours over to the Post-Employment Health Care Savings Plan at a conversion rate of 3 to 1 hours.
4. Article 33 – Duration
We agreed to a three-year duration for the new contract. It would be valid January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019.
5. Appendix A – Wages
We agreed on a 3% general wage increase each year of the contract. Current wages for the City’s Patrol are in line with our Comparable Cities. Non-union City employees received a 3% wage increase for 2017, and we feel that a 3% wage increase for each year of the contract is a reasonable increase, based on some concessions made by the union for the new contract.
The amounts listed in Appendix A were increased 3% over the 2016 rates, and each year of the life of the contract.
We increased the shift differential for the Investigator/Detectives from $280 to $300 per month. We also agreed to pay out the shift differential for the School Resource Officers over 12 months, instead of 9 months. Lastly, we inserted language representative about how we pay the shift differentials, it is not paid out monthly, it is built as an addition to their hourly wage.
6. Appendix B – Incentive Pay System
Appendix B was changed to include some changes to the incentive pay system.
The Education/Training section was changed, we increased the additional monthly for a Master’s Degree, and the Continuing Education/Training sections. These went from $60 a month, to $80 a month. Additionally, we will now be requiring 14 P.O.S.T. credits, instead of 24 credits. We feel as though continual training is very important, and we want all employees to continue to learn.
The Community Service section was changed. We wanted to make sure that the community service was done in Shakopee, and we allowed this incentive to be eligible upon hire.
Lastly, we updated the Fitness section, to know include another level of Standards, while maintaining the 50th percentile standards, we are implanting a new 80th percentile standard. Physical fitness is very important component to our City employees, but especially our Police Department employees.
7. Appendix C – Post-Employment Health Care Savings Plan (HCSP) Contribution Schedule for LELS Members
The LELS Patrol Union members voted to increase their contribution to the HSCP, so that that vote is reflected in the red-lined copy of the contract. The other change in this appendix was the increase that was previously made in the City’s contribution to the HCSP, which went from $25 to $35 in 2015.