City, PBPD dispatchers union work on contract

Poplar Bluff City Council members are expected to vote April 1 on a union contract with the police department dispatchers’ group. The matter was discussed Monday during a workshop session.

The contract, good through December 2020, would give shift differential pay. This is the main difference between it and other city union contracts, said city manager Mark Massingham.

This would be the first contract for the new group, which is part of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 702. Dispatchers voted in 2018 to join IBEW, along with a separate group of police officers.

Negotiations started March 13 for the police officers’ organization, said union representative Mark Baker.

Dispatchers would continue at their current rate of pay until the end of 2019. The city has agreed to meet with union representatives in the final two months of the year to discuss a pay increase, which would become effective Jan. 1, 2020.

Shift differential pay will cost the city about $2,600 a year, Massingham said. It would be 50 cents or 75 cents per hour for those who qualify, with additional overtime rates of between 75 cents and $1.50 per hour.

Hourly rates for dispatchers currently range from $15.37 to $20.06, according to city documents.

Under the agreement, the city also says it will make a good-faith effort to keep at least eight full-time communications officers on staff, including the chief and assistant chief communications officers.

Vacation time would be 40 hours after one year of service and up to 120 hours after five years.

The contract sets paid leave for six holidays, and 12 hours of sick leave per calendar month. Sick leave can be accumulated to a total of 1,040 hours.