Contracts
CONTRACT
“I was really happy with the way our negotiations team all worked together on this,” said Sterling Heights Technical Professionals Local Union President Bob Sergott. “We come in 20 minutes earlier every day. Twenty minutes earlier isn’t as dramatic as two hours later like they do in some other places. It’s nice, I have (my day off) tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to it. The new schedule was passed by 90% of the members, and keep in mind, most of my members don’t have a pension and … got their 401k (DC plans) significantly increased too because of it. Getting that 401k (DC) plan increase, from 4% to 7%, who doesn’t want that? And you get an additional day off. The equity wage adjustments watered down to better than a 2.5% increase. (The City) had jobs that were severely lacking in wages, like the library positions, where they can’t hold onto Employees. They leave after 6 months. Certain positions were a tremendous win because they weren’t competitive wages with other communities, so we were able to get those increased – the library and a couple positions that had leadership roles and a few financial sector positions.”
Wage Increases:
2% increase effective July 1, 2023.
2.5% increase effective July 1, 2024.
3% increase effective July 1, 2025.
- Employees also received equity wage adjustments for some classifications to make their wages more comparable to jobs that are similar in nature.
- Several Supervisors received equity adjustments to increase the wage gap between them and their subordinates, bringing them more in line with other Supervisors.
CONTRACT
“We went from a self-insurance HMO to a HSA model. It’s beneficial in the first year because (deductibles) are fully paid. You still have to pay for your 20 percent co-pays,” said Mark Moriarty, Dearborn Municipal Employees Local Union President. “Starting in the second year, the ($2,000/$4,000) deductibles stay the same, but the HSA funding from the City goes to $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for families. They were self-insured, which has its benefits, but, in the near past it was not a good funding model for them. When the rates were low, and there wasn’t a lot of change, the City could budget for it, but after COVID … the costs shot way up. This is more reliable and the City can budget for it, plus, you can carryover your HSA bank from the year before and you get that when you leave the City. One of the main things we did get was automatic promotions for the Office Assistants (OAs), who make up most of our unit. Promotion from an OA1 to an OA2 is automatic after 18 months. Before, if you wanted to get a promotion, you had to apply at another department unless there was an opening in your department or you applied for a promotion review. Promotions from OA2 to OA3 are now automatic after two years. Any Employees in a classification of 2 for longer than two years were advanced to the next highest equivalent or step increment at contract ratification. We said, ‘Let’s make this automatic because everyone is going to leave because they can’t get a promotion.’ For the length of this contract, we set it up so this continues forward as a progression to advancing their careers here. We also have a Me Too clause inserted in our contract regarding (bargaining agreements with) other units in the City. Unlike any other (department), they did offer us an early retirement for Employees with 25 or more years of service, as of June 30, 2022, who are at least 50 years old – instead of waiting until they’re 55 years old.”
“There was a delay settling the contract because we did have to go to mediation. We also filed for fact-finding with the state, so it was not an easy negotiation for this team,” said MAPE Assistant Executive Director Jerald James. “The contract was originally voted down, yet ratified by a narrow margin on the second vote. The extra time needed to settle this agreement yielded beneficial results for both sides by finding a solution for spiking health care costs and Employee advancement and retention.”
Contract Duration: 2-year agreement ratified Nov. 15, 2022 and effective 7-1-22 to 6-30-24.
Wage Increases:
2% increase effective July 1, 2022.
2% increase effective July 1, 2023.
- Additionally, all Employees who were in a Level 2 position for longer than two years were advanced to the next highest equivalent or step increment upon contract ratification.
Office Assistant Promotions: Office Assistant (OA) promotions are now automatic. Previously, OAs had to apply to a higher paying job classification in another department for promotion if there were no openings in their department or they applied for a promotion review. Now OA1’s have natural progression to OA2 after 18 months. OA2’s are promoted to OA3’s after two years. An OA1 paid $36,600 in 2022 receives another 2% wage increase on July 1, 2023 ($37,300), plus a promotion after 18 months to OA2, boosting pay to $41,800. OA2’s who are promoted to OA3 would receive an additional $1,700 annually on top of the 2% yearly raises.
By Jennifer Gomori, MAPE Editor
East Lansing Employees didn’t feel like they were getting their money’s worth from their former Union representation, so after hearing a rave review about Michigan Association of Public Employees (MAPE), they decided to switch representation.
“I didn’t know about MAPE until I was sitting down with Maureen Underhill from Novi (City Workers) who was in a
trades association with me,” said Nathan Izydorek, East Lansing Employees Local Union President. “I was talking about changing unions and was asking if we can change. She said, ‘We have been with (MAPE) a while now and I absolutely love everything about them.’ That was pretty much what led us to choose MAPE.”
East Lansing Employees liked the monthly flat fee MAPE offered compared to Union dues based on a percentage of each Employee’s wages through their former representation, United Auto Workers (UAW). They had been with the UAW since 1999.
“It was about half of what some of us were paying toward the UAW,” Izydorek said. “A lot of the members felt as though the dues were greater than what we were receiving, and there was a lot of feeling that the UAW wasn’t catering to us the way we wanted or needed them to. At the end of the day, we did not consider TPOAM (Technical, Professional, and Officeworkers Association) because of our experience with both (MAPE Legal Counsel) Bryan (Davis, Jr.) and (former MAPE Labor Relations Specialist) Gary McSweeney and the dues structure.”
The group voted 21-7 to join MAPE, however, the UAW fought the move in court, seeking a hearing with an Administrative Law Judge. “MAPE won the vote in May (2022), but there was a break when the UAW was contesting the Union change in court,” Izydorek said. “That’s why our negotiations were delayed.”
CONTRACT
“Now, Administrative Secretaries and Associates have the ability to move up an additional two steps on the pay scale for cross-training purposes, learning duties outside their department. It’s a 4% raise each step,” said MAPE Legal Counsel Bryan Davis, Jr. “The Senior Meter Technicians also have two additional steps, if they obtain certain licensures. They can move up 4.9% each step, an approximate $5,500 annual increase if the Employee moved up both steps. There is Certification Pay for licensures and certifications paid on an annual basis for various divisions. The lowest is $125 to $1,000 annually. You can stack that up depending on certifications or licensures. The prior Boot Allowance was $150. Now, for certain Employees, it’s $250 and for others it’s $200. There’s a brand new $55 Jacket Allowance, payable every 2 years.”
“The high points of the contract are definitely the increase we were able to get for select classifications, changes to the Uniform Allowance and the Boot Allowance and cleaning up a lot of the language,” said Nathan Izydorek, East Lansing Employees Local Union President. “With Bryan’s help, veteran members said our latest contract was the most detailed and most extensive changes we’ve had since almost 25 years ago. This is my first time negotiating. I just became President in the summer of 2020, so the whole experience was very new and very eye opening. I’m happy to have somebody like MAPE and its representatives on my side to help me through the whole situation.”
Contract Duration: 2-year agreement ratified Dec. 6, 2022 and effective 7-1-22 to 6-30-24.
Wage Increases:
3% increase effective Dec. 6, 2022.
3% increase effective July 1, 2023.
- Each Employee received a one-time Hazard Payment of $500 upon contract ratification.
- Two additional pay scale steps were added to compensate Administrative Secretary/Associate Employees who receive cross training for positions outside their department. Each step amounts to a 4% increase in pay, raising the maximum pay from $52,700 to $57,000 for both steps.
- Two additional pay scale steps were added for Senior Meter Technicians after they obtain certain licensures. Each step amounts to a 4.9% increase in pay, raising the maximum annual salary from $56,000 to $61,500 for both steps.
CONTRACT
“Our Clerical staff got a raise which was nice. It’s a 2 percent raise and I wasn’t expecting one. Our caseload had dropped significantly,” said 35th District Court Employees Local Union President Penny Wasalaski. “The bottom dropped out when COVID hit because nobody was writing tickets because nobody was on the road, so our caseload dipped in a major way. On top of that, with the change in landlord-tenant rules, there weren’t many evictions for over a year. We haven’t completely recovered, but we did get a raise. I think we got what we got because we have fewer Clerical staff than in the past. Six years ago, we had 16 Full-Time Clerical and 3 Part-Time Clerical for a total of 19. Probation was not part of the Union at that time. We now have 13 Full-Time and 1 Part-Time Clerical in addition to 1 Full-Time and 3 Part-Time Probation Officers, for a total of 18, including Probation. Previously, we could not use Personal Time in conjunction with Vacation Time. Now, as long as it’s approved prior to the Vacation Time starting, we can. It is our time to use and they understood that. We also got some good changes made on behalf of our Part Timers. Their hourly wages were given a bump, and Part-Time accrual of Vacation Time was greatly simplified. Part Timers will now earn Vacation Time much more quickly. Vacation Time starts accruing at date of hire. They don’t have to wait a year as they did under the previous calculation.”
Contract Duration: 2-year agreement ratified Jan. 4, 2022 and effective 1-1-22 to 12-31-23.
Wage Increases:
2% increase effective Jan. 1, 2022 for Full-Time Employees except Probation Officers.
2% increase effective Jan. 1, 2023 for Full-Time Employees except Probation Officers.
$1.57 hourly increase effective Jan. 1, 2022 for Part-Time Clerical staff, to match starting wage of Full-Time Clerical staff.
2% hourly increase effective Jan. 1, 2023 for Part-Time Clerical staff.
$2.31 hourly increase effective Jan. 1, 2022 for Part-Time Probation Officers, to match starting wage of Full-Time Probation Officers.
0% increase effective Jan. 1, 2023 for Part-Time Probation Officers.
- Full-Time Probation Officers received a $250 signing bonus.
CONTRACT
“I was actually really surprised that we were able to get such a large pay scale,” said Eric Miller, City of Jackson Employees Local Union President. “With Tier 2 retirements, the multiplier was a big one for us too. Being able to get that quarter percent was really really big. There were a lot of good things in this contract. The pay was good. The retirement, I thought, was fantastic. For our probationary Employees, because they extended probation to 9 months, we were able to get them Holiday Pay after 30 days. Municipalities have a lot of holidays, so you are talking a lot of missed pay during the holidays. That was a big deal too for the double time pay. Probationary Employees get double time if they come in on a holiday - 12 hours of double time. Our operators used to only get paid 8 hours of double time, now they’ll get paid the entire 12-hour shift … and anything over is double time. The On-Call pay went up $25 and Shift Premium pay went up 25 to 30 cents. A lot of municipalities have been doing Stipend Pay for licenses. Now the City was able to do a nice little stipend to pay up to two licenses. It’s mainly for workers in our plants and DPW. Before the guys wouldn’t get the licenses. If they’re not going to get extra pay for these licenses, why should they go get them?”
Contract Duration: 4-year agreement ratified July 12, 2021 and effective 7-1-21 to 6-30-25.
Wage Increases:
2% increase effective July 1, 2021.
2% increase effective July 1, 2022.
Wage re-opener effective July 1, 2023.
Wage re-opener effective July 1, 2024.
- Jackson had a 2-tier pay scale. Employees hired after July 1, 2012 were all in Tier 2 at a lower pay scale. All Tier 2 Employees (42 members) were moved into the higher Tier 1 wage scale at an approximate average of $.50 per hour increase plus the 2% wage increase.
By Jennifer Gomori, MAPE Editor
Oakland County Children’s Village Youth Specialist II Marvin Vaughn has unique insight into Union representation, working with two different Unions at the same time through his Employers.
Vaughn, a full-time Oakland County Children’s Village Employee and a part-time City of Highland Park Firefighter, has been pleased with the things MAPE Labor Relations Specialist Jerald James has accomplished over the past couple of years since MAPE began representing Highland Park Firefighters.
Oakland County Children’s Village Employees were also impressed with MAPE, voting to join the Union in July 2021. The 125-member group encompasses 10 job classifications, including clerks, case coordinators, nurses, cooks, office workers and youth specialists.
“When Mr. James (came to) Highland Park Fire Department, I saw what he did for them,” said Vaughn, Oakland County Children’s Village Employees Local Union President.
James helped Highland Park Firefighters obtain a boost in their wages, followed by annual pay increases and a new uniform allowance. Vaughn said he admires the way James handles business. “Anybody who has ever met Mr. James, they know he’s a go getter,” Vaughn said. “He’s no nonsense. He’s all about the Union.”
