Police sergeant, service employee contracts approved in Lombard

Two union contracts were approved during the Lombard village board meeting Thursday.

“I think the positive is that both of these were agreed to without having to go to arbitration,” said Village Manager Scott Niehaus.

A two-year agreement was approved for nine police sergeants who are represented by the Fraternal Order of Police. The terms of the agreement are the same as the prior contract, but with several minor language changes and a new wage schedule.

Sergeants will now receive a retroactive 1.75 percent wage increase for the period beginning Jan. 1, 2014, and ending May 31. Another raise of 0.25 percent will be given between June 1 and Dec. 31. For 2015, there will be a 2.5 percent wage increase between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31.

“That's a big thing because now we're getting the sergeants on a calendar-year contract and they weren't before,” Niehaus said. “That's one of the things that we asked them to do.”

Sergeants employed at the time of the agreement's ratification will also receive a one-time $500 bonus.

In addition, the board approved a contract with the Service Employees International Union Local 73.

This is the first time the union has had a bargaining unit in the village, Niehaus said. It includes 49 mostly clerical employees, such as the administrative secretaries for the fire, police, public works departments, code enforcement officers and people working in accounting and billing.

“This was probably over 18 months of negotiation,” Niehaus said. “I think it's typical of a first contract. A majority of what, I think, the contract did is it secured the status quo, things as far as vacation and health insurance.”

Employees who have not yet reached the “maximum salary” that is listed in the contract for their position will receive three raises — a 1.75 percent retroactive increase from Jan. 1, 2013; a 1.75 percent increase for 2014, and a 2 percent increase for 2015.

One-time lump sum payments will be awarded to employees at or above the maximum salary or hourly rate of pay listed in the contract for their position, as long as they meet expectations on their annual performance evaluation. The payments are $1,000 for 2013 and $1,250 for 2014 and 2015.

“The wage increases are consistent with what we've done with the other unions and they are also market competitive to our comparable towns,” Niehaus said of both contracts. “We tend to look at other towns in the DuPage area, of a similar size and financial makeup, and compare our salaries against those.”