Mike Rimkus Explains IPPA's Position In IPSD Contract Negotiations

IRONWOOD, MI - Friday, August 01, 2008 - Ironwood Professional Police Association (IPPA) President Mike Rimkus released a letter to the press this morning outlining the IPPA's position in the negotiations between their union and the City of Ironwood.

Here is the release as it was presented to the Chronicle:

"A sincere thanks to all the people, groups, citizens, and labor Unions that stood in support of us at our informational picket that was held on Monday, July 28th. The large amount of people who gathered with us once again shows that the City of Ironwood is a special place and we as Officers are proud to work for you, and to strive to do our best to keep you safe and protected. We also believe it is our duty to keep you informed as to the status of what brought us to the point of this informational picket.

We (IPPA) believe that through the last approximately 16 months of contract talks with the City of Ironwood, that there is nothing on the table now that could not be resolved through good, well-intended labor talks. We as a Union have filed for Arbitration this was done because it is the next step in our process of collective bargaining. We are still open to sitting down at the table again with the City and by doing that possibly arbitration could still be avoided. In saying this, we feel the citizens need to know what we are seeking and what we see as the sticking points of why we have not been able to settle to this point.

When we started negotiations, about 16  months ago, we had hopes of settling our contract with the least amount of hardship on our group and on the City as well. We were disheartened when about 15 minutes into the meeting we were told that we may as well file for arbitration. We know that both sides of talks are required to bargain in good faith and we believe the City has not done that.

We asked for a three year contract with raises of $0.50 the first year retroactive back to April 1st, 2007, $0.65 the second year and $0.75 the third year. We agreed to a change in health care from what is now a CB-2 healthcare plan to a CB-10 healthcare plan. This resulted in higher co-pays and deductibles for us and saved the City money. The City has been firm on a cap of the healthcare premium benefits. We believe we have made concessions in healthcare and we should not be asked to take another step back. The cap the City asks for would mean that we pay any and all increases in years to come. In today's world of rising costs, these costs would compound and would make it impossible for officers to take care of their families.

We agreed to a switch in the current retirement system from our present plan to what is called the Municipal Employees' Retirement System (MERS). This switch would save two mills on the tax rolls and would save the taxpayers what we were told to be approximately $200,000. We have made several adjustments over several contracts that have changed the way officers final retirement benefits are paid. This has resulted in money saved by the City and again saved for the citizens of Ironwood.

We have had reductions in staff members throughout the years and this has made our numbers smaller, but we are still a hard working, dedicated group to the citizens of Ironwood. We calculated that our last offer to the City, without a healthcare cap, saves the City money and is fair to us. Yet we are still unable to settle. We believe that even though the City has, at times, bargained unfairly, we have refused to file an unfair labor practice with the State of Michigan. We have done this as a sign of good faith that we can get a contract settled.

I may not have touched on everything, but these points appear to be the major sticking points of why we cannot get our contract settled. We have asked that our elected City Commissioners get more directly involved with the bargaining and to this point, that has not happened. This is what brought us to the point of the informational picket. We ask that you speak to your elected officials and be in support of us in getting this long overdue issue resolved.

Sincerely yours,

Michael A. Rimkus

IPPA President"