A majority of officers with the Poplar Bluff Police Department have voted to become members of a union.
The measure succeeded by 1 vote, said union representative Mark Baker of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 702.
The mail-in ballots were counted late Friday afternoon by the State Board of Mediation and can be certified after a 10-day waiting period.
A law which became effective Aug. 28 requires the union to have majority support of all 35 police officers who were eligible to vote, Baker said. Prior to the enactment of House Bill 1413, the union only needed majority support of those officers who chose to vote.
There were 20 votes cast, with 18 in favor, according to a tally released by the state board.
City officials can appeal the results during the 10-day waiting period, but did not appeal a separate bargaining unit formed this summer by a vote of police department dispatchers.
Dispatchers are also represented by IBEW 702, which additionally serves members of Municipal Utilities and the street department.
Negotiations between the city and the dispatcher's group are scheduled to start Friday, said Baker. The union has asked for a three-year contract which would include raises of 4 percent each year.
"We would like to make up ground for years that have went by that they haven't gotten raises, but we understand it's a process," he said. "I think our group is very realistic about their expectations and I think the city just recently granting the 3 percent pay increase could really provide an easy path for us to get a first agreement."
It could be after the first of the year before negotiations begin with the officers' bargaining unit, Baker said.
The officers bargaining unit does not include approximately six positions filled by captains and lieutenants, or the police chief.
The union had originally sought to represent captains and lieutenants as well, but chose to seek approval through the State Board of Mediation rather than under city ordinance.
This path offered a better chance of success, Baker said, but limited the unit to officers, corporals and sergeants.
The city had originally opposed the inclusion of corporals and sergeants, but did not contest the unit ultimately presented to the state board, Baker said.
Captains and lieutenants were consulted before the decision was made to go through the state, he said.
"They had a desire to be in the union, but they understood for the people beneath them," this would offer a better chance, Baker said.
City manager Mark Massingham could not be reached Saturday for comment.