City, FOP approve a 4-year contract

Ken de la Bastide, The Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Ind.
·2 min read

Oct. 26—ANDERSON — The city and the Fraternal Order of Police have approved a new four-year contract.

The Anderson Board of Public Safety unanimously approved the new contract Monday.

The contract runs from Jan. 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2025.

David Eicks, Anderson deputy mayor, said the new contract includes a 4% pay increase in 2022, matching what all elected officials, department heads and nonunion employees will get.

That raises a starting patrolman's base pay from $50,735 to $52,764 next year.

The contract includes 3% pay increases in 2023 and 2024, and a 4% pay hike in 2025.

Eicks said the new contract includes a $50 increase in annual longevity pay for each of the next three years, rising from $200 this year to $350 per year of service. That amount is multiplied by the number of years of service. After reaching 20 years, the longevity pay would stay at $350 under this contract.

With this change, total longevity pay for an officer with 20 years' experience would rise from $4,000 this year to $7,000 in the contract's third year.

It also increases shifts to 12 hours from 10.

"The idea is to put more officers on the street," Eicks said.

Mike Anderson, president of the FOP, said union members approved the contract by a voting ratio of 3-to-1 of the membership.

"It felt good," he said of the new contract. "This is one of the better ones in terms of pay increase."

Anderson said the 14% pay increase over the next four years should help maintain the department's manpower.

"The goal in the long run is to keep the younger officers from leaving the department in the future."

He said the change in shift hours will let the department have proper staffing.

Eicks said the administration of Mayor Thomas Broderick Jr. is now negotiating new contracts with unions representing the Anderson Fire Department; Local 108, which represents Water Department employees; Local 1913, which represents workers with the City of Anderson Transit System, Water Pollution Control, Street and Parks departments; and United Auto Workers Local 1963, whose members work in various city departments.

Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.