July 24, 2009

A Joint Statement from the Lawrence Police Officer’s Association (LPOA), International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) Local 1596, and the City of Lawrence City Manager’s Office

Conceptual agreement on new two-year agreements between the City of Lawrence and LPOA and IAFF members has been reached by City-LPOA-IAFF representatives today. The conceptual agreement will be presented to the Lawrence City Commission for consideration Tuesday night, July 28, with consideration by union membership on different dates. The agreement includes a 0.5% wage adjustment for LPOA and IAFF members effective in 2010, and the opportunity for step increases for eligible members.  Additional provisions governing the accrual and usage of wellness days for City employees, and the accrual rate of sick leave for members of the IAFF, have also received conceptual agreement.  Language in the agreements governing longevity payments remains similar to language in the current agreement.   The City Manager’s recommended budget included compensation adjustments for all City employees similar to the proposed agreement, with the changes agreed to today requiring additional budget authority for the City’s general fund of approximately $ 80,000 beyond the original recommendation.  All of these changes can occur without the necessity of either a mill levy increase or deviation from a goal of adopting a balanced City budget.

The proposed agreements cover the City and employee groups for both 2010 and 2011, with an opportunity for a re-opening to discuss compensation issues for the year 2011 in the spring of 2010.

Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager, spoke on behalf of the City and employee groups:  “We are pleased to recommend to the City Commission the two agreements which achieve our goals of providing adequate compensation to our employees while recognizing the difficult economic challenges facing the community and City budgets.”

Compensation adjustments for City employees not governed by the employee group agreements will be from a 1.25% merit pool which is proportionate to the amount of funds necessary for the adjustments in the union agreements.

Contacts:          Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager, 832-3413

                        Mike McAtee, LKPD, Chairperson, LPOA, 830-7428

                        Michael McMillen, LDCFMD, President, IAFF Local 1596, 840-5394