By Jennifer Myers
Lowell Sun
LOWELL -- The city and the 230-member Lowell Police Patrolmen’s Union have reached a contract settlement, concluding more than three years of negotiations.
Under the terms of the agreement, the patrolmen, whose contract expired June 30, 2007, will receive an 8 percent pay increase effective July 1, 2010. The increase averages out to 2 percent per year. However, there is no retroactive pay included.
Under state law, the city can only give a union a 3-year deal. Therefore, this agreement expired June 30. Lynch said he will enter into another round of negotiations with the patrolmen soon.
The settlement will cost the city $715,000, which City Manager Bernie Lynch said can be found within the city’s fiscal 2011budget. The city realized $250,000 in savings when Chief Financial Officer Tom Moses refinanced some bonds held by the city in September; additionally, the anticipated $1.3 million snow-and-ice deficit from the last fiscal year was filled using other savings found in the budget.
As part of the agreement, the union agreed to offer its members the PPO health-insurance option, in addition to the HMO and Master Medical indemnity plans that are already offered. Additionally, new hires will not be offered the more expensive Master Medical indemnity plan.
“This sets a precedent for us,” said Lynch. “We want to move forward with all of our bargaining units to eliminate Master Medical in the long run.”
The patrolmen are also the first bargaining unit to agree to switch to a biweekly payroll program and to begin direct deposit in February of next year.
Additionally, the city will increase its contribution to the Legal Defense Fund, which indemnifies patrolmen, protecting them in the event that they are sued due to an incident that occurs within the execution of their duties, from $150 to $250 per member per year. This mirrors the amount put aside in the superior officers’ contract.
The city also agreed to implement a physical-fitness incentive program, similar to that offered to superior officers. All current members of the union are eligible for the program. However, moving forward, only officers who have been on the force for at least four years will be eligible for the fitness bonus.
The city and union have been at an impasse since the summer of 2007. Since that time, the matter was sent to the state’s Joint Labor Management Committee and to mediation, neither of which resulted in a resolution of the matter.
The contract issue was to be heard by an arbitrator last week, but the city and union were able to reach an agreement prior to that meeting.
“This contract can be settled without any increase in the budget,” said City Councilor Bill Martin. “Despite a difficult economy, a 2 percent increase per year is certainly reasonable and a fair increase when you look at it over the life of the contract.”
Martin added that it was fortunate that the city and union were able to come to an agreement, rather than putting the decision in the hands of an arbitrator. He cited the decision of an arbitrator earlier this year to award the Boston Firefighters’ Union a 19 percent increase.
“This seems to be substantially better for the city and the taxpayer, while being fair to the patrolmen,” he said.
The council unanimously approved the settlement.
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