Aurora, first union reach contract deal

As Aurora officials continue crafting their 2010 budget, the city council has given them one more piece to lock in place.

Aldermen voted 9 to 1 Tuesday to approve a deal with one of the city's labor unions that provides members with average annual raises of 1.93 percent through 2012 and guarantees no members will be laid off through 2010, including the four given notices last month.

In return, employees in Local 1514 will take 10 unpaid furlough days - two this year, and eight next year.

The pact calls for 3 percent raises retroactive to Jan. 1 and then no raise in 2010, a 2 percent increase in 2011 and a 2.7 percent increase in 2012.

Members of AFSCME Local 1514, which includes 130 public works and water and sewer maintenance employees, ratified the deal Sept. 18.

Fourth Ward Alderman Rick Lawrence, the lone dissenting vote, pleaded with the others to postpone the vote until aldermen have a chance to see Mayor Tom Weisner's budget proposal sometime next month.

"It might well indeed be a great contract for the city and some sacrifices on the employees part, but we don't even have a budget yet to even see how it fits into an entire plan," he said. "We really should wait until we see how this all fits together so we're not guaranteeing all these things to you when we don't even know if we have the money to pay for it."

Third Ward Alderman Stephanie Kifowit disagreed.

"We cannot have people working without a contract. That's the bottom line. People need to be paid a fair wage. We've been in limbo with this contract for so long," she said. "This is a piece of the puzzle and finalizing this piece and being able to bank on these numbers is part of finalizing the budget."

AFSCME spokeswoman Flo Estes called the deal one both sides could live with and indicated the union was willing to "bear its fair share during these recessionary times." But she also disagreed with Lawrence's logic.

"Whether the budget is in or not, they've had plenty of time to assess the cost of this contract," Estes said. "If they think the only way to balance the budget is by cutting employees and making further deep cuts, they're not going to continue to have the services they do."

Estes also said she believes AFSCME Local 3298, which represents clerical positions, inspectors, planners and accountants, is "close to reaching a deal."

She would not comment on the status of the unfair labor practice complaint the union filed against the city last month.