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Posted on Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 5:57 a.m.

Ann Arbor police officers union accepts concessions in new labor contract

By Ryan J. Stanton

The city of Ann Arbor and its police officers union have reached a deal on a new labor agreement that includes several concessions — including on health care.

Effective Jan. 1, members of the Ann Arbor Police Officers Association will start paying significantly more for their city-provided health care benefits.

They'll also start paying more toward their pensions, with employee contributions going up from 5 to 6 percent on pre-tax pay.

The new contract, which is retroactive to July 1, 2009, and runs through June 30, 2013, includes no across-the-board wage increases. It also reduces benefits for new hires.

Though the terms were voluntarily agreed upon by both the city and the union, they came through a stipulated award handed down by a state-appointed arbitrator.

The arbitrator's decision was filed with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission on Wednesday, marking an end to an Act 312 binding arbitration process started last year.

"We're pleased with the outcome," said Tom Crawford, the city's chief financial officer. "It awarded the city the items that we've been seeking with the other unions, so we were pleased to see that. It's never a pleasant experience to go through the process of binding arbitration, which was regrettable, but we are happy with the results."

The city filed an arbitration petition in July 2010 to settle an unresolved contract dispute with the police officers union. Until now, the union refused the city's request to join the city's nonunion employees and other labor groups in paying more toward health care.

Jamie_Adkins_June_2011.jpg

Jamie Adkins

Formal hearings in the case were held before an arbitration panel on July 11, Aug. 3 and Sept. 1, records show.

Jamie Adkins, the union's vice president of bargaining, said officers weren't looking for an increase in compensation — they wanted to maintain their current health benefits given concerns about radon, asbestos and mold in areas of city hall where they worked for many years until recent times.

Adkins said it was the threat of a new state law about to take effect — one setting a hard cap on health care benefits for public employees in Michigan — that spurred the union to accept the "lesser of two evils" and agree to the concessions.

"The original reason we went to arbitration was because of health care," she said. "In light of the governor getting ready to sign Senate Bill 7, we felt this stipulated award offered our membership a choice in health care to meet their families' individual needs."

Senate Bill 7 was presented to Gov. Rick Snyder on Wednesday afternoon. Once he signs it into law, any collective bargaining agreements executed on or after Thursday of this week must limit the amount of money a public employer pays toward employee health care to $5,500 annually for individuals, $11,000 for married couples and $15,000 for families.

By a majority vote of their governing bodies, schools and local governments can elect to comply with an alternate 80-20 stipulation where the employer picks up 80 percent of total employee health care costs, while employees pay 20 percent.

Also, by a two-thirds vote taken annually, a local unit of government can exempt itself entirely from the requirements of the health care cap for the next succeeding year.

While members of the police officers union don't have to worry about the hard cap now, they will be paying more for their health care after agreeing to concessions.

Under the current plan, police union members pay no premiums and no co-insurance. They also have deductibles of $250 for individuals and $500 for families.

Their options starting Jan. 1 will be a new "low plan" and a "high plan" — similar to the plans offered to the city's nonunion employees — or they could opt for a 20 percent premium plan.

The low plan includes no monthly premium, but the tradeoff is that deductibles are set at $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for families, plus 20 percent co-insurance.

The high plan includes a 10 percent monthly premium with deductibles set at $300 for individuals and $600 for families, with 20 percent co-insurance.

The third plan, as the name implies, includes a 20 percent monthly premium with deductibles set at $300 for individuals and $600 for families, with no co-insurance.

Adkins estimated a police officer with a family would have to pay about $270 a month — up from zero — in premiums under the 20 percent plan.

While those plans should save the city a sizable amount of money in health care costs, other concessions negotiated could save even more money.

Effective Jan. 1, new hires will have to clock 10 years of service to be vested in the city's pension plan, up from five years. Also, the final average compensation figure used to calculate pensions will be based on five years instead of three years for new hires.

New hires also will not receive health care at the city's cost in retirement. Instead, they'll receive a $2,500 annual contribution into a retirement health reimbursement account at the end of each year. That account can be used in retirement for health care expenses or to purchase, at the retiree's full cost, access to the city's health care plan in effect at that time.

Crawford said resolving the contract with the police officers leaves only the command officers union and the firefighters union as the last two bargaining units holding out from making the kind of concessions the city is looking for from all its employees.

The police department was looking at more than $1 million in budget cuts for next year, Crawford said, so the savings from the new contract could go a long way.

"This will certainly help mitigate the situation," he said. "The progress we've made with each of the employee groups helps us when we deal with the revenue reductions we've seen."

In other areas of the new contract, the police officers union came out on top. For instance, the union wanted to make sure that officers have the option of receiving comp time rather than overtime for hours worked on holidays. The union won on that issue.

The city also will continue to provide members of the police officers union $500 per year in longevity pay and, for those eligible, $250 per year as equipment allowance. Employees also will receive a one-time $500 contribution to their health reimbursement accounts on Jan. 1.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's e-mail newsletters.

Comments

AACity12

Sat, Sep 17, 2011 : 3:08 p.m.

So, they spend years and years slowly poisoning these people then when they get sick and it comes time to pay up they screw them over again. Real nice. This is one cold hearted city.

Deborah

Sat, Sep 17, 2011 : 2:26 a.m.

To Polyjuice 123 and Rob: It is obvious you have never fought for any benefit you have received (if any). The police, firefighters, nurses, etc. put their lives on the line daily to protect you. When you are willing to put your life/health/safety on the line for others - then you can submit an opinion as to whether the risks you are taking are worth what you are being compensated for to take that risk. We are tired of hearing from people who have no idea what it is like to risk your life/health/safety on a daily and sometimes hourly basis and feel we deserve to be compensated because of our "egos". When was the last time you put your life/health/safety on the line for a total and complete stranger? We do it every day!

Steve Sommers

Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 6:39 p.m.

I am sure if there wasnt any tension between police and fire before that there sure is now. Way to rollover.

Polyjuce123

Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 6:32 p.m.

Maybe they can pay a visit to UM and give some wisdom to the nurses.

Sparty

Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 6:58 p.m.

Many of those nurses will never find wisdom on the issue of compensation and benefits. They can't understand the logic of having to pay prevailing costs for their benefits, despite the fact that every other UM employee is on the same set of plans with the same cost. They want to tie what they should pay to a whole host of unrelated factors. And somehow they feel they are being targeted or that they deserve some type of special plans because they make a special difference. Such egos haven't been seen in decades, I'd guess. LoL.

Peter Jameson

Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 4:54 p.m.

woah, I'm glad I started my own business...

hut hut

Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 3:10 p.m.

I don't understand why some people want to take away from some what everyone should have. Talk about class warfare!

Youwhine

Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 3 p.m.

"We're pleased with the outcome," said Tom Crawford, the city's chief financial officer. "It awarded the city the items that we've been seeking with the other unions, so we were pleased to see that. It's never a pleasant experience to go through the process of binding arbitration, which was regrettable, but we are happy with the results." This confuses me, since the mayor has been saying for years how arbitration is the source of all evil, is totally slanted in the unions' favor, and costs the city money. Yet the CITY was the one that requested the arbitration in this case and the CITY came out on top in the end...

ToddGack

Sat, Sep 17, 2011 : 4:56 a.m.

You must have to remember the MAYOR LIES!

hut hut

Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 3:14 p.m.

The City administration always requests arbitration because it drags out the negotiating process and gives them a chance of "winning". I hope the new administrator tries to repair the damage from the Fraser years.

Mr. Ed

Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 2:51 p.m.

It's a sad day. I support AAPD and the work they do. I'm in disagreement with the health care cuts to our public safety workers.

Tom Todd

Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 2:22 p.m.

All because Snyder said so,this is awful,these law enforcement officer should have to pay nothing for health care, maybe no or low pay increases for a few years at best. I guess maybe now they are paying hopefully they will decide to truly use these benefits to repair anything and the associated time off that would come with it (FMLA). Who knows we will probably lose some our best people. This could in turn cause more lawsuits in the future.I forgot anyone can do these blue collar middle class jobs.

BornNRaised

Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 2:12 p.m.

Let's wait for the "They should've given more." comments. Can the residents take the city to arbitration to make them get their heads out of their... you know... and start getting their priorities straight? Or how about this... when all the residents are telling you they're against something, maybe you should try and listen.

snapshot

Mon, Sep 19, 2011 : 6:33 a.m.

Do I sense a work slowdown in the future like Detroit union mechanics not fixing busses and making the public suffer?

clownfish

Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 1:36 p.m.

People that put their lives on the line daily take a pay cut, and all other people can do is mock? Sad.

snapshot

Mon, Sep 19, 2011 : 6:30 a.m.

Borders 10,000 unemployed, Ann Arbor News gone, B of A firing 30,000, GM still owes taxpayers 24 BILLION dollars giving raises to their employees before they pay taxpayers back. There's lots of sufferring out there, lots of taxpayer money being misused, I don't think the cops got such a bad deal. There's 2 wars going on where soldiers are really dying putting their lives on the line. They come home and can't get a job. Pay sonme respect for the folks who are dying in far greater numbers than police officers doing there jobs.

tdw

Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 1:56 p.m.

clownfish.....I have to assume that you are referring to the comment that was removed.The other two seem to be in support ( surprisingly ) of the police

Tony Dearing

Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 12:27 p.m.

A comment was removed because it violated our conversation guidelines. Please do not post comments that include profanity or abbreviations that represent profanity. Thanks.

observer

Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 11:21 a.m.

The city can use the extra money for public art and more green belt land......while the employees go without..........

Awakened

Fri, Sep 16, 2011 : 10:39 a.m.

If they can save the $1 million they can put up a second fountain!