Bankrupt San Bernardino has reached an agreement with its police union, lawyers for the city and the San Bernardino Police Officers Association said on Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Riverside.
The agreement is a “huge step forward,” said Mayor Carey Davis in a prepared statement following the hearing before Judge Meredith Jury.
It will help the city work out a plan to emerge from bankruptcy, Davis said.
The police union is the second major creditor with which San Bernardino has reached an agreement. The first was the California Public Employees Retirement System.
The terms of the two agreements remain confidential under a gag order imposed by Jury and a federal mediator working with the city and the creditors to determine how much each creditor will be paid.
“This has been a long and difficult negotiation to work through and I’m extremely pleased this tentative agreement has been reached,” Davis said in the statement.
Representatives of the police union could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The agreement is subject to approval by the City Council, which will meet on Monday , August 18, to consider it. It must also be ratified by the union membership.
http://blog.pe.com/news/2014/08/14/san-bernardino-bankrupt-city-police-union-reach-agreement/