Council Agrees to Pay Increase For Police Sergeants

After a two-year wage freeze, five Inver Grove Heights police sergeants employed by the city will see a pay increase, thanks to a deal struck between the city and a local labor union.

On Monday night, the Inver Grove Heights City Council unanimously agreed to the terms of the settlement, which includes a 1 percent retroactive pay increase effective on Jan. 1, 2011; a 1 percent retroactive pay increase effective July 1, 2011; and a 1.5 percent pay increase that will be implemented incrementally in 2012.

The council also agreed to a one-time lump sum payment of $250 to each employee in the police sergeants union to help offset the increase in health insurance premiums in 2012. Wages for the city's police sergeants—and all other city employees—were frozen in 2009, according to City Administrator Joe Lynch. In 2010, the sergeants voluntarily agreed to another pay freeze—though other city employees saw slight pay increases that year, Lynch added.

“They took one for the team, if you will, for settling for zero percent increase in 2010,” Lynch said.

The LELS, Local 189, which includes the five police sergeants employed by the city, is one of four unions representing Inver Grove Heights city employees.

Out of the 138 full-time employees on the city's roster, all but roughly 20 of the employees are unionized, Lynch said. The city's police patrol officers have their own union, as do the city's public works and parks staff. Other city employees, including planning staff and building inspects, are represented by a separate union.

Lynch expects to begin 2012 labor negotiations with two other city employee unions this year.

Money for the 2011 wage increase for the police sergeants will come from a contingency fund, which has a balance of $130,000. The 2012 wage increase for the sergeants will be written into the 2012 budget.
of $130,000