The 2017-18 collective bargaining agreement between the city of Fort Wayne and the local Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association was approved during Tuesday’s City Council meeting, two weeks after the contract was initially rejected.
The amended contract passed Tuesday stipulates that the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association president has the option to serve in a 40-hour per week full-time capacity as the union’s president, or 20 hours per week as the head of the union and 20 hours performing duties for the police department, said Adam Henry, an attorney for Beers Mallers Backs & Salin who represents the union.
In a letter to the council, the union leadership chose to make the union president’s job a half-time position. The PBA represents the police department’s rank and file officers.
“We have presented to you on Friday a letter signed by the PBA leadership that for the duration of the contract the president will serve in the 20 hours per week position, 20 hours devoted to patrolling the streets,” Henry said.
The union time bank hours are set at 2,700 for the duration of the contract, Henry said.
Council rejected the union’s original collective bargaining contract at its Oct. 18 meeting. It was an extension of a proposal by former City Councilman Marty Bender, who attempted to prohibit the city from paying certain city employees for acting as union president. Bender also proposed ending union time banks, which allow union members to perform union duties during work hours without loss of pay.
In rejecting the original contract, Councilman John Crawford, R-at large, said the police union did not attempt to compromise and meet council halfway, submitting a contract exactly the same as the previous one. Those concerns have been resolved, Crawford said Tuesday.
“In the two weeks since, this (memorandum of understanding) has been done, the letter from the PBA has been done saying it will essentially be a half-time position for the duration of this contract,” Crawford said. “So I think that has certainly met my objections by meeting the council halfway.”
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