Politics & Government

Berkley, Union OK Labor Deal That Saves Estimated $468,000

The Berkley Public Safety Officers' Association signs off on changes that include benefit reductions and a pay freeze.

The City Council recently approved a Officers' Association contract that will save the city an estimated $468,000 during the next three fiscal years, Finance Director David Sabuda said Thursday.

The contract, in combination with three other labor agreements the city recently approved, will save Berkley an estimated $1,595,000 during the 2010/2011 through 2012/213 fiscal years, he said.

The estimated savings include retirees but not wage-freeze savings, Sabuda said.

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The Berkley Public Safety Officers' Association agreement that was ratified March 7 covers 18 full-time employees and four retirees, Sabuda said. It includes the following changes:

  • increased co-payments for prescription medications;
  • introduction of deductibles for medical treatment;
  • no raises for three years;
  • cutbacks on overtime and accrued leave; and
  • longetivity benefits cut for the last two years.

Currently, the affected employees pay $10 for generic prescriptions and $20 for brand-name medications, City Manager Jane Bais-DiSessa said. Under their new Blue Cross Blue Shield medical plan, they will pay $5 for generic medicines, $40 for brand-name prescriptions that are required by their doctor and $80 for brand-name medications that they opt for instead of an available generic drug, she said.

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"None of our guys are naive to what's happening out there," Berkley Public Safety Officers' Association president Lou Tanghe said. "We all understand state revenue sharing has been cut and everybody's going through tough times. We were more than willing to sit down and help the city get through this.

"It's much easier to work as a team," he said.

Bais-DiSessa has worked to negotiate contracts with the Public Safety Officers' Association, as well as nonbargaining city employees and barganing units for the Berkley Public Safety Command Officers Association and American Federation of State, County and Municipal employees in the .

The pacts aim to cut health care costs for the city, which faces declining revenues due to falling property values and decreases in state profit-sharing funds. At the same time, Berkley has seen health care and pension expenses increase.

"These savings are crucial for us over the next 3 years," Sabuda said. "Even though we're estimating these savings, it still isn't enough because revenues keep falling faster than expenses can be reduced.

"Those cuts bought us 2 years worth of time to come up with new sources of revenue or decide what to cut," he said.

Noneconomic changes in the city's labor agreement with the Berkley Public Safety Officers' Association include removing the Presidents' Day holiday and adding Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

"The important thing is we managed to save all of our guys," Tanghe said. "It could have been a lot worse."


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