Glen Ellyn OKs contract extension with police union

Glen Ellyn trustees have signed a two-year contract extension with the police union that awards annual pay raises to officers below the rank of sergeant.

Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 202 members have ratified the pact, and the village board followed suit this week.

Effective Nov. 1, 30 officers represented by the union will receive a half- percent “equity pay adjustment,” a bump that is not tied to performance and is designed to align their salaries with those of police in comparable departments, Assistant Chief Bill Holmer said.

Officers also will get a 2.5 percent pay increase Nov. 1, and another 2.5 percent increase Nov. 1, 2017.

The average annual salary for members of the bargaining unit is $84,260.

The increases are expected to cost the village roughly $130,000. All other provisions of the current contract are extended from Nov. 1, through Oct. 31, 2018.

Holmer described bargaining talks as “informal discussions” that began in early spring.

“We're thrilled to be able to reach an agreement like this and in such an informal manner,” Holmer said. “It's a testament to the trust and the relationship that's been built here for many, many years.”

The current pact was due to expire Oct. 31. Extending it allows the village to avoid negotiating an entirely new contract, saving legal fees and “simply, all the time involved,” Holmer said.

The agreement also means the “entire department, not just management” can focus on day-to-day operations and the construction of a new police station, Holmer said.

On July 6, crews are set to break ground on the project that will build a 29,426-square-foot, two-story station near Panfish Park. It could take about a year before 40 sworn officers and their supervisors move out of the existing station, a first-floor space in the Civic Center downtown, and into the new one along Park Boulevard.