Committee advances contract between Minneapolis, police union to full council
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A policy and government oversight committee has advanced Minneapolis’ contract with the police union to the full City Council.
Tuesday, the committee decided to advance the tentative collective bargaining agreement without recommendation. That came after a motion to delay a vote on the agreement to allow for a public hearing failed on a 3-3 vote.
A summary of the tentative agreement released by the city last month includes a general increase in ages for officers as well as a market adjustment.
It also includes $7,000 incentive payments for new and existing officers when they meet certain requirements.
RELATED: Council postpones vote on tentative agreement to give raises to Minneapolis police officers
Earlier this year, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said, “Police officers need to get paid more and they also need to get fired more.” A note on the council’s agenda says Frey has reviewed the tentative agreement and recommends it for approval.
Sgt. Sherral Schmidt, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, noted the effort that went into the tentative agreement.
“We spent a lot of time working through the negotiation process with this and try to come to an agreement that meet the cities … what some of the cities needs were and what we needed out of this contract,” Schmidt said.
The union president also said the retention bonus in the agreement will be competitive with surrounding cities.
“That $7,000 gives that bump to people that might be looking other places … it might be enough to keep people here,” Schmidt said.
The full council is set to discuss the tentative agreement on Thursday.
If the council doesn’t approve the deal, city staff members say the city and police union would go into binding arbitration, as it’s too late under state law to continue bargaining.