No 2012 Pay Raise for Nearly Half of Hopkins City Employees

Many Hopkins city employees will not see raises in 2012 following the City Council’s approval Tuesday of three contracts.

The agreements do include increases in 2013 and 2014.

“Thanks to all city employees for their commitment to the ,” Mayor Gene Maxwell said.

The contracts cover public works employees, non-union employees, police dispatchers and public service officers—about 45 percent of the city’s total workforce, said Assistant City Manager Jim Genellie.

The remaining contracts also expired at the end of 2011. However, negotiations have not yet begun and the employees will continue operating under the existing contract until a settlement is reached.

Each of the contracts approved Tuesday has no increase in wages for 2012, followed by a 2 percent wage increase in 2013 and a 3 percent increase in 2014. The 2014 increase is split—with 2 percent coming Jan. 1 and 1 percent coming July 1.

The contracts mean each of the groups will go without pay increases for two out of three years. Public works employees did not receive an increase in 2011, while the other groups did not receive one in 2010.

Union negotiators wanted some assurance that there would be increases in the future in exchange for going without increases this year, Genellie said.

The city also had to take into account that negotiations with unions such as police and dispatchers could go to binding arbitration. In such a case, Hopkins wages would be compared to those for similar positions in other cities—not a generic private-sector market

“I understand that people are still struggling in this economy and the city still has issues. However, we are in a public sector employee market,” Genellie said. “It’s necessary for us to stay competitive with the market.”

The city contribution toward insurance costs will not increase for the life of the contract—primarily because premiums dropped 17 percent this year. With premium caps in the insurance contract, premiums are guaranteed to be no higher in 2014 than they were in 2011, Genellie said. That was part of what enabled the groups to craft multi-year agreements that will allow the city to forecast costs into the future.

With no increases for this year, Hopkins is well on track to hit its 2012 budget without dipping into contingency funds. Yet it still has the other contracts outstanding—something Genellie said is not unusual.

“We hope the agreements will be similar,” he said. “But in the end, it is a negotiation.”