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Burton Police Pension
Continued from page 15
the City. “He always says he can be contacted anytime, which we didn’t have with the POAM,” Mahon said. “(The POAM Rep.) was on the west side of the state — it was real dif cult to have those POAM reps come out to our city. With Chris he shows up when he says he will. We’ve seen him a lot around the of ce. We’re really happy with Chris.”
They were especially impressed when Watts checked in with them following an of cer shooting in Genesee Township. “He called to ask if our guys were ok,” Mahon said, adding the incident, as it turned out, didn’t involve Burton Police.
Mahon said language in an early 1990s POAM-settled contract set them up for failure. The contract stated that Tier 2 Employees would assume all the costs of Tier 1 Employees’ pensions once they retired. “If we didn’t have that wording in the contract, we would have been
able to ght free of it a long time ago,” Mahon said. “That might have been the only thing we wanted was to remove that wording from the contract. The Tier 1 Employees didn’t dump the money into the pen- sion at the beginning and of cers were retiring one or two years after the pension plans inception. That’s what hurt us.”
“There were poor business decisions on both sides of table,” Watts said. “Years after the pension was started, the newer Em- ployees were forced to pay for this unfunded pension problem that wasn’t even their problem. It was a really sour pill to swallow.”
“We had guys that were lining up to walk out the door because the wages were so far behind everyone locally,” Watts said. “Burton is a busy department and they deserve to be paid. Of cers are making more money quicker and (the City) becomes more marketable to new of cers because they don’t have this 10-year waiting period to top out.”
The four-year contract expires June 30, 2022 and has wage and DC re-openers the last two years of the contract. d
The Police Of cers Journal
16 • WINTer 2019
Contract Settlements
(Continued from page 12)
City of Wayland Non-Supervisory
New 2-1/2-year agreement expires June 30, 2021. Wages:
3.5% effective Jan. 1, 2019. 1.25% effective July 1, 2019. 1.25% effective July 1, 2020.
Fringe Bene ts: Employees receive $500 per year equipment allowance. Previously, allowance was $300 and was for personal protection items only. Tuition reimbursement increased from $1,500 annually to $4,000 per year. Em- ployer provides full coffee service for Employees. Two additional paid Holidays, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and a oating holiday determined by City Manager with Employee input. Employees who work 12 or more hours in a shift receive a $12 meal allowance and those who work 18 or more hours receive two $12 meal allowances. Employees receive $50 monthly cell phone allowance if they don’t have a City supplied cell phone. Employees can bank up to 320 hours of Sick Time that can be used toward FAC for their pension when they separate from Employer. Vacation Time begins accruing from rst day of work. Formerly Employees had to work 6 months before accruing any Vacation Time. Employee Handbook: Union contract supersedes the 2007 City Employee Handbook for Discipline, Comp Time and other items addressed in contract. Health Care: Employees pay 2.5% toward healthcare premium in 2019 and up to a maximum of 5% toward premium in 2020. The Employer will contribute up to $400 per year in matching funds into an HSA, dollar for dollar, based on Employee contributions.
Retirement: Current Employees maintained their 2.5% multiplier in MERS B4 De ned Bene t with Employees being vested after 6 years of employment and their FAC based on the best 3 consecutive years of employment. New hires, after Oct. 1, 2018, have a 2% multiplier for MERS De ned Bene t and are vested after 10 years of service with FAC based on the best 3 consecutive years of employment.
Bargaining team: Local Union President Jason Huggett and Vice President David Paul aided by GELC Labor Reps. Will Keizer and David Thomas.
City of Wayland Supervisory
New 2-1/2-year agreement expires June 30, 2021. Wages:
3.5% effective Jan. 1, 2019. 1.25% effective July 1, 2019. 1.25% effective July 1, 2020.
Fringe Bene ts: Employees receive $500 per year equipment allowance. Previously, allowance was $300 and was for personal protection items only. Tuition reimbursement increased from $1,500 annually to $4,000 per year. Employer provides full coffee service for Employees. Employees receive two additional paid Holidays, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and a oating holiday determined by City Manager with Employee input. Supervisors are salary and not required to work on Holidays so they receive Overtime pay if they work
on a Holiday. Employees who work 12 or more hours in a shift receive a $12 meal allowance and those who work 18 or more hours receive two $12 meal allowances. Employees receive $50 monthly cell phone allowance if they don’t have a City supplied cell phone. Employees can bank up to 320 hours of Sick Time that can be used toward FAC for their pension when they separate from Employer. Vacation Time begins accruing from rst day of work. Formerly Employees had to work 6 months before accruing any Vacation Time. Employee Handbook: Union contract supersedes the 2007 City Employee Handbook for Discipline, Comp Time and other items addressed in contract. Health Care: Employees pay 2.5% toward healthcare premium in 2019 and up to a maximum of 5% toward premium in 2020. The Employer will contribute up to $400 per year in matching funds into an HSA, dollar for dollar, based on Employee contributions.
Retirement: Current Employees maintained their 2.5% multiplier in MERS B4 De ned Bene t with Employees being vested after 6 years of employment and their FAC based on the best 3 consecutive years of employment. New hires, after Oct. 1, 2018, have a 2% multiplier for MERS De ned Bene t and are vested after 10 years of service with FAC based on the best 3 consecutive years of employment.
Bargaining team: Chief Steward Cole Lutz and Alternate Steward Michelle Herman, aided by GELC Labor Reps. Will Keizer and David Thomas. d