AURORA — The city has reached a tentative agreement with the police union over a new contract for 2011, but the Fire Department is heading to arbitration.
Members of the Aurora Police Association union are voting on the proposal this week, with a Thursday deadline to tally the vote. Those results should be available by Friday.
Police union president Don James said he could not talk about specifics of the deal. However, he did say there were no permanent cuts in the city’s latest offer.
The city had been seeking a 5 percent reduction in pay and benefits for police and fire.
“There are some concession on behalf of the (union) membership,” James said. “The package equates to savings to the city.”
The police union had originally sought a 0.75 percent pay increase to offset the lost wages for two furlough days.
“We’ve gotten some input back, and some are not happy and others are willing to accept it,” James said. “It will be interesting to see how this turns out.”
The impasse with the fire union will mean two days of arbitration, July 20 and 21.
Aurora fire union president Randy Rester said the impasse “has nothing to do with pay raises.”
The union wants disability insurance coverage for older and more experienced firefighters.
“This is not a pay issue, this is a benefits issue,” Rester said.
Human resources director Kin Shuman said city officials are hopeful the police union will endorse the latest proposal. The council still must sign off on the deal.
Negotiations for both the police and fire unions appeared headed toward arbitration in late May, but the City Council met in executive session and decided to extend the talks.
The fire union opted for an outside arbitrator.
“We’re disappointed we weren’t able to reach an agreement,” Shuman said, “but there is a process in place — the arbitration process — and we’ll let that take its course.”
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com
