AUBURN, NY – Labor contract negotiations between the city of Auburn and its police union have ventured further into a state of flux.
The union reportedly rejected a contract proposal from the city earlier this week, according to City Corporation Counsel John Rossi. Both parties were thought to have reached an agreement about two weeks ago, but the accord collapsed after an apparent miscommunication.
At that point, the parties were looking at an approximate $20,000 difference between negotiated salaries and uniform allowance fees, then said Tim Cottrell, president of the New York Finger Lakes Region Police Officers Local 195.
Cottrell could not be reached for comment for this latest development. Two weeks ago, the union’s concern, among others, was with the department’s current and upcoming vacant positions and their potential impact on the police department’s service levels.
However, the city has decided to hold off on rehiring these vacancies until a new labor deal is approved. Rehiring these positions now, Rossi said, would establish the salaries of the new hires at the current contract’s pay grade.
While this contract expired at the end of June, law dictates that its terms are persisted during negotiations.
City officials were projecting a significant cost savings — estimated at around $219,000 two weeks ago — by filling any vacancies with fresh recruits at a lower pay grade through a new, reconfigured salary schedule.
As with the city’s latest contract with the local firefighters union, a retirement incentive was rolled into the previous proposal, which offered a lump sum option of $10,000 to a retiree.
“As retirements occur, that’s when the savings would take place,” Rossi said Thursday.
From here, the city will consider its options, Rossi said. It’s unclear if arbitration will be needed to resolve the latest dispute.
Members of the Auburn City Council discussed the contract situation in executive session following their regular meeting on Thursday. Officials will hold off on any movement on this matter, however, until City Manager Doug Selby returns from out of town on Monday, said Councilor Peter Ruzicka.
In other news
With the mayor, city manager and city clerk all absent from Thursday night’s meeting, Auburn councilors worked through a relatively light agenda.
At a unanimous vote between the remaining members, councilors authorized the city to advertise for bids to patch a leaky roof at the Oropallo Recreational Complex at Casey Park. Councilors allocated $125,000 to the roofing project in May.
Additionally, council also awarded the 2014 edition of the city’s revolving loan sidewalk program to Canastota firm Concrete Slipform, Inc.
An average of 60 homeowners per year request the services of the program, Lupien said, which calls for the installation of sidewalks and/or curbing that the owner then pays for over a five-year period.
Staff writer Greg Mason can be reached at (315) 282-2239 or greg.mason@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @CitizenMason.