The City and Fraternal Order of Police leadership reached a tentative agreement Wednesday on a three-year collective bargaining agreement, just a day before a decision would have been rendered by the City Council.
Under terms of the agreement, concessions include a 3 percent pay cut, a 5 percent health care cost contribution and a $50-a-month fee to officers with take-home cars who live outside the county.
It does not include freezes to step raises, which are provided to officers after years-of-service benchmarks.
The deal will save the City $5.5 million this year and $7.3 million in each of the next two fiscal years, said Chris Hand, Mayor Alvin Brown’s chief of staff.
Police union membership will vote on the deal next week.
Following an approved vote, the agreement would then be presented to Council for enactment as legislation.
Brown said Wednesday night the negotiations took place over the last several months after a “fresh start” he initiated with union leadership by withdrawing the pension reform offer his predecessor, Mayor John Peyton, had put on the table. That new beginning, Brown said, led the way to having both parties at the table to compromise and sets the stage for pension reform over the next year.
“It’s a good deal for the people of Jacksonville,” Brown said. “I think it shows that we can work together to get things done.”
The impasse hearing scheduled for 9:30 a.m. today has been postponed to next week.
“With this agreement, we have our future stable for the next three years, during which we hope the economy recovers and grows,” said FOP President Nelson Cuba.
“I fully support this agreement, as does the FOP contract team. We believe this agreement is in the best interest of all FOP members. This agreement gives us stability going forward,” he said.
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