By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Within a six month period, Bowling Green city administration negotiated contracts with its five unions.
“It was a heavy lift,” Municipal Administrator Lori Tretter said last week after City Council voted to approve the final agreement, this one with the police command staff.
Consistent with the others, this last contract provided for 15% raises split over the three years of the contract.
While those raises are higher than typical for Bowling Green municipal workers, the city had some catching up to do.
Bowling Green Human Resources Director Michelle Ish said a study of comparable pay in the region showed the traditional pay raises would not be enough.
“There were wild raises given in private business and government,” Ish said. “We needed to get ourselves back in line.”
City Finance Director Dana Pinkert stated earlier in the negotiation process that the higher than usual raises were expected.
“It’s what we expected due to inflation and the profession expectations,” Pinkert said.
Tretter credited Ish and Pinkert for helping the negotiation process run smoothly.
“I think we have fair contracts with all of our bargaining units,” Tretter said. “We’re very pleased with the outcomes.”
Following are the raises approved with each union in their three-year contracts:
- 51 employees in the firefighters bargaining unit will receive a 7% raise this year, 4% in 2025, and 4% in 2026.
- 40 police patrol and dispatch employees will receive a 6% raise for this year, 5% for 2025, and 4% in 2026.
- 71 city water, wastewater and public works employees will receive a 7% raise this year, followed by 5% in 2025, and 3% in 2026.
- 19 electric division workers will receive 9% raises this year, followed by 3.5% in 2025, and 2.5% in 2026.
- 10 police command employees will receive 6% raises this year, 5% in 2025, and 4% in 2026.
Some of the employees will also receive market adjustments based on local comparables, Ish said.
Two-thirds of Bowling Green municipal employees are represented by union bargaining units.
While not new to human resources work, this was the first time for Ish to work on contract negotiations with Bowling Green employees.
“We have great, exceptional employees,” she said. “The negotiation teams were amazing to work with.”
