Lake Zurich telecommunicators will get average raises of 2.25 percent over the next three and a half years, under a contract approved by the Village Board earlier this month.
The new contract removes the position of community service officer from the bargaining group and eliminates the word “merit” from an annual bonus the telecommunicators receive, said Doug Gibson, human relations manager for Lake Zurich.
The 12-member telecommunicators union approved the contract on July 23, Gibson said. The vote was unanimous, said Pete Balderas, field representative for the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police labor counsel, who represented the dispatchers in the negotiations.
Village Board approval followed on Aug. 6.
The pay increases — 2 percent through the end of 2018, 2 percent in 2019, 2.5 percent in 2020 and 2.5 percent in 2021 — were “acceptable” to both sides, Balderas said.
The salary hikes, which are retroactive to May 1, are the same amount as those awarded to patrol officers in their current union contract, Gibson said.
Negotiations extended past the expiration of the previous contract on April 30 because a large number of language changes were made to the new contract, including removing the community service officer, who retired, Balderas said.
“I don’t believe it took that long,” he added. “There were a lot of changes that had to be made to that contract as a result of the community service officer not being in the contract. That’s probably the main reason.”
The delay was also caused by timing of two retirements among telecommunicators, both of whom were supervisors and served as negotiators, according to Gibson.
“They needed time to get appropriation representation. The village wanted to honor that,” Gibson said.
No breakdown occurred at any point in the negotiations, Gibson added.
“Not in the least bit,” he said. “It was very straightforward back-and-forth. They were very amicable. They’re a great group to work with. I’m impressed with the quality we have.”
The reference to the annual bonus as “merit pay” was removed because every dispatcher was receiving the full amount every year, both Balderas and Gibson said.
“The previous contract said that eligible telecommunicators would receive full, half or none. Now it’s basically for service time,” he said. “Basically, merit pay is not part of the contract anymore. It turned to longevity basically. Nobody ever gets half or none, so why not make it longevity?”
The bonuses are $1,000 for telecommunicators who have completed one to five years of continuous service, $1,250 for those with six or seven years of service, and $1,500 for those with eight or more years of service.
Benefits remained the same, including telecommunicators paying 20 percent of the premium for the PPO insurance plan and 10 percent of the premium for the HMO plan, Balderas said.
However, language was added to refer to the HMO plan as the “basic plan,” Gibson said.
Phil Rockrohr is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
