Arbitration with police union and county avoided
An arbitration hearing was averted with a deal being reached between the Police Offices Labor Council (POLC) and the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners. The POLC, which consists of 11 sheriff’s deputies, ratified the agreement on August 3, the day the arbitration hearing was scheduled, while the commissioners approved the contract at their August 11 meeting.
It’s a three-year pact through 2007, with three percent raises each year. It’ll be retroactive to the beginning of 2004, as the old contract expired December 31, 2003. According to personnel committee chairman Gary Wozniak, a fifth step was added for union members. Eligible staff with five or more years with the sheriff’s department will receive an additional two percent raise in the second year of the contract. POLC staff representative Tom Kreis was reviewing contract language this week but was pleased to get the contract resolved.
After months of waiting for the hearing, the arbitrator was prepared to listen to both sides, but instead, representatives from the county and union met one last time to see if a deal could be reached. There were changes in vacation and sick leave for officers and a modification in health care. Wozniak said the cost of the arbitrator was split between the union and the county. The next contract the personnel committee will have to work on will be the jail staff. Their contract expires at the end of the year.