AURORA | Contract negotiations between the city and unions representing police officers and firefighters are underway.
Deputy City Manager Michelle Wolfe said the negotiations started Wednesday, April 27, with the firefighters union and start Friday, April 29, with police.
Both groups are working under contracts signed in 2014 that expire at the end of this year.
Wolfe said the two sides have 30 days to negotiate. If they can’t come to an agreement, they will start the arbitration process.
But, Wolfe said, that 30-day deadline has some flexibility and in 2014, while the two sides started looking into arbitration after 30 days, they kept negotiating and came to an agreement before arbitration.
“We were close but we weren’t quite done after the 30 days,” she said.
The 2014 police contract included raises for almost all officers that varied based on their rank. It didn’t include any wage freezes or pay cuts.
Wolfe said the city often aims for a two-year contract but opted for one-year deals during the recession.
As for what will be negotiated this time around, Wolfe — the city’s lead staffer in the process — said she couldn’t discuss specifics pending the negotiations.
But, she said, “economic and non-economic items could be on the table.”
Sgt. Bob Wesner, president of the Aurora Police Association, said the union is looking for pay raises that bring Aurora more in line with Denver, where officers make more and can reach the top level of pay several years sooner than in Aurora.
“We need to have that pay and benefit package that matches Denver or it’s easier for folks to go there,” he said.
Wesner said he hopes the new contract puts the pay scale for Aurora officers in the top three or four in the area, and in the top one or two in terms of the entire benefit package.
This negotiation is Wesner’s first as APA president, but he said he has been involved in several previous negotiations, including as vice president in 2014.
In previous years, when the economy was down and city finances tighter, the APA fought against pay cuts and pay freezes for officers.
Wesner said he doesn’t think that will be an issue.
“I don‘t foresee any pay cuts or furloughs in the next five years,” he said. “The city has money, revenues are up, everything financially about the city is up.”
The Aurora Firefighters Protective Association did not return a request for comment.