Aurora police union claims city not following contract

The Aurora police patrol officers union thinks the city has not been fulfilling the requirements of a contract set last summer, according to a complaint filed in Kane County court.

Lawyers for the Association of Professional Police Officers filed the complaint, saying the city is not complying with the wage and health care terms set in an arbitrator’s ruling last July.

The complaint requests the court order the city to comply with the ruling, “specifically on the issues of wages and health insurance,” and to pay attorney’s fees and interest.

The arbitrator’s ruling, which helped finalize a contract between the police officers union and the city, was necessary because the two sides came to an impasse after months of negotiations.

According to the ruling, officers were to receive a 1 percent raise for the contract year starting March 6, 2011, and a 2 percent raise for the contract year beginning March 6, 2012. Officers who had worked for the department 10 years or longer were to receive an extra $1,000 in 2011.

The ruling also called for a change in how officers were to pay for their health insurance, switching the payment mode to a percentage of the premium for each health plan from of a percentage of officers’ pay.

The complaint says the city has changed the benefits included in officers’ health insurance instead of just the payment method.

“The city asserts that the award entitles it to implement a new health insurance benefit plan and it has unilaterally done so,” the complaint reads.

The complaint does not specify how officers’ insurance was changed, but says the union asked the city several times to comply with the arbitrator’s decision by rescinding the health insurance changes and giving the agreed-upon pay increases.

The city responded to the complaint this week with a statement saying the union’s allegations are “completely without merit.”

“Contrary to the allegations made by the union in this complaint, the city has documented agreements with the union on the issue of wages and the issue of a health insurance benefit plan design. The complaint represents a puzzling and improper attempt to rewrite the bargaining agreement between the parties,” the statement reads, adding city attorneys are working to have the complaint dismissed.

The next scheduled court date for the complaint is June 15.