Contracts
Birmingham Police Officers impressed with communications, comprehensive MAP representation
By Jennifer Gomori, MAP Editor
Birmingham Police Officers had been with their former union for decades, but Michigan Association of Police (MAP) has given them a fresh perspective on Union services that works better for them.
The 32-member unit joined MAP in April 2022, parting ways with the Police Officers Association of Michigan (POAM).
“We just weren’t receiving adequate representation,” said Josh Bouchard of Birmingham Police Officers
Association. “I’ve been the Union President for four years now. We were with them probably since I was born. It’s been a long time, at least 20 years, and it could definitely be more.”
Their contract expires June 30, 2022, so MAP Labor Relations Specialist Chad Trussler got to work immediately organizing negotiations meetings. Bouchard said the group’s interactions with Trussler have been so impressive that he considers Trussler the primary reason Birmingham POA joined MAP.
“He worked for Beverly Hills, a neighboring department to us, and all of the older guys are friends with Chad,” Bouchard said. “Once they got wind we were starting to shop around, we met with Chad and a couple others from MAP and we’ve been happy with them ever since.”
St. Clair Shores Command
CONTRACT
“This is a very nice contract. The Lieutenants’ salary will be six figures,” said MAP Labor Relations Specialist Joe O’Connor. “Starting this July 1, 2022, the base wage for Lieutenants is $102,600. It goes up $2,000 in 2023 and the following year another $2,000, for a base wage at end of the contract of $106,782. The Sergeants starting base wage July 1, 2022 will be $93,600 with their top out at $97,000. When the tentative agreement was presented to Council for approval, the pension board attorney had an issue with the DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan) language. This led to a delay in getting final approval. When St. Clair Shores Command Officers reach eligibility to retire … they may apply for the DROP plan, continue working or simply retire. Once they enter the DROP, they calculate their pension and their pension is frozen. They can continue working, however, they must leave City employment within 3 years. In the end, there wasn’t a change in the DROP. We were just waiting for the City Manager to sign the contract after he gave his resignation. Once we signed it, the Employer paid them retroactive back to July 1, 2021.”
“We definitely wanted to keep the DROP option in the contract. That was important for us,” said Jenna Conrad, St. Clair Shores Command Local Union President. “It’s only advantageous to those retiring during the contract. We wanted to keep it so it’s there to be negotiated for the next contract moving forward. We did get a few changes here and there that were advantageous to us. Initially, when we had Sergeants getting promoted, they would not get full pay for a year even though they were off probation in 90 days. Now they get the raise in pay after 90 days. We were able to keep the medical insurance we have with all the same coverage and the DROP program. We got what we think are fair wage increases and we really didn’t lose anything.”
Contract Duration: 4-year agreement ratified Sept. 30, 2021 and effective 7-1-21 to 6-30-25.
Wage Increases:
3% increase effective July 1, 2021.
3% increase effective July 1, 2022.
2% increase effective July 1, 2023.
2% increase effective July 1, 2024.
- After the contract was signed, all Employees received the first year pay increase retroactive to July 1, 2021.
St. Clair Shores Patrol
CONTRACT
“This is the first contract I’ve been a part of - and I’ve been involved in four contract negotiations - that we’ve never lost anything. That’s pretty rare these days, not losing anything,” said Paul Opper, St. Clair Shores Patrol Local Union President. “The health care, pension increase and the raises were the major issues. We went into it with that mentality. They did raise the starting wage for new hires and they also brought in the Lateral Pay for new hires with previous experience at other departments or prior Military Police experience up to three years. With three years’ experience at another department, they start at the 3-year step of the pay scale. With two years’ experience, they come in at 2-year step. It’s a nice benefit to help the City get new hires. In this day and age, it’s hard to hire people and this helps. We were able to improve the pension benefit for the second and third tier Officers. In fact, we were able to eliminate the third tier and combine everyone in the second and third into the second tier, increase their multiplier and include Overtime into their pensions. That was a huge win! We were able to get a really good health care plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield. It’s essentially no out-of-pocket costs for us, except the copays for prescriptions. I really credit (MAP Executive Director) Fred (Timpner) and (MAP Labor Relations Specialist) Chad (Trussler) for the whole contract. They did a lot of research and they had some good suggestions for us. A lot of times health care jargon can be very confusing and Fred and Chad definitely made it easier to understand. Fred and Chad just did an awesome job. They were there throughout the whole thing. We are always pleased with the way MAP goes through negotiations with us.”
Contract Duration: 4-year agreement ratified Feb. 21, 2022 and effective 7-1-21 to 6-30-25.
Wage Increases:
3% increase effective July 1, 2021.
3% increase effective July 1, 2022.
2% increase effective July 1, 2023.
2% increase effective July 1, 2024.
- Officers with up to 3 years prior law enforcement experience will receive Lateral Pay, starting on the pay scale at a higher level according to the number of years of service with another police department or as a Military Police Officer.
Woodhaven Command
CONTRACT
“We got another Holiday added which is always nice because that does go toward our FAC (final average compensation). Basically it was a real simple contract to negotiate,” said Lt. Dennis Deweese, Woodhaven Command Local Union President. “It was a couple meetings and we were done and both sides appeared to be happy with it. The last two contracts we fought kind of hard for, so for this one to go as easy as it did was nice.” Lt. Deweese lauded the tuition reimbursement and Detective Bureau On-Call pay increases. “Typically, three credits is $2,500. Under the old contract, one semester would eat up the entire $2,000. Now you could go all three semesters and get four credits (per semester). It’s probably three to four times more. To us, it just signifies the City wants to further the City Employees future educations. It’s a win-win for both sides. It’s a considerable difference in value to the On-Call pay. With getting 7 hours per month On-Call, you’re looking at 84 hours of Comp Time (per year), which you then in turn sell out and get that pay. The value of that would be at least double because we are able to buy out 60 hours of Comp Time twice a year. MAP was very prepared, understood our needs and wants, and we really didn’t have to fight for anything, but they were prepared to do so if we needed to. Their preparedness made things easy.”
Contract Duration: 3-year agreement ratified May 12, 2021 and effective 7-1-21 to 6-30-24.
Wage Increases:
3% increase effective July 1, 2021.
2% increase effective July 1, 2022.
2% increase effective July 1, 2023.
- $500 signing bonus to each member upon ratification.
- Increased Lieutenant and Sergeant Detective Bureau positions pay by an additional $1,000 annually each year of contract.
Sterling Heights Police Officers Association
CONTRACT
“The big thing was the pension multiplier. We took zero concessions and we brought up the second tier pension multiplier for people hired after July 1, 2011 to 2.5%. Anyone hired here on out will receive 2.5%,” said Mike Kunath, Sterling Heights Police Officers Association Local Union President. “We broke the $90,000 a year barrier and, we believe, for a total package we have one of the best contracts in the state of Michigan. I have to give (MAP Executive Director) Fred (Timpner) and (MAP Labor Relations Specialist) Chad (Trussler) credit here,” said Kunath, MAP Executive Board Vice President. “We more than doubled our tuition reimbursement. Health insurance improved because the City is giving us more money toward our high deductible plan. They’re giving us $2,400 in January and if we put in $800, they’re matching $800 in the HSA.”
Contract Duration: 3-year agreement ratified Aug. 4, 2021 and effective 7-1-21 to 6-30-24.
Wage Increases:
2% increase effective July 1, 2021.
2.5% increase effective July 1, 2022.
3% increase effective July 1, 2023.
Retirement: All Employees hired after July 1, 2011 will have their pension multiplier increased from 2% to 2.5%.
