Police, village agree on new CBA

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A Granville police department patrol vehicle.

A new collective bargaining agreement has been reached by the village of Granville and its police officers, who will receive raises retroactive to last June, when the former contract expired.

The village agreed to add one additional holiday to be determined by the union while the union agreed to reduce the number of full-time employees from six to five. Seniority will be determined by continuous service with the Granville police department.

Mayor Paul Labas announced the tentative settlement with the United Public Service Employees Union and a pay raise for police chief Ernest Bassett Jr. at the Jan. 3 Village Board meeting.

“We have agreed upon the memorandum of agreement between the police union and the village board, the collective bargaining agreement between the employer and the union. We have agreed to engage in good faith negotiations. With the CBA, we have reached a tentative settlement covering the period from June 1, 2021 to May 31, 2024,” Labas said.

The previous CBA expired on May 31, 2021.

The increase in pay for Bassett jumps to $34.00 an hour, which will also be retroactive. Bassett was being paid $30.57 an hour before.

According to the memorandum of agreement, the pay scale now sees sergeants being paid $30.00 an hour, patrolmen with 10 years or more of service being paid $28.00 an hour, part-time patrolmen being paid $23.00 an hour, officers in charge of an investigation being paid $26.25 an hour and new hires or an individual with no certification being paid $21.00 an hour.

After certification, officers will receive $23.00 an hour and gradual increases each year, with a wage of $24.00 an hour at the start of year three, $24.75 an hour at the start of year four and $25.50 an hour at the start of year five.

“The increase in wages are retroactive to June, 1, 2021 for all employees on the payroll at the time of ratification,” the memorandum of agreement said.

Labas said in a Jan. 5 phone call the agreement has been in negotiations since June 2021 but was interrupted multiple times because of Covid-19 transmission on both sides. On Jan. 10, Labas said the contract is “basically the same” as the last contract outside of the new additions to the memorandum of agreement.

“I don’t see any other hold-ups except getting any new officers to fill our slots,” Labas said on establishing a new contract. “Everybody is clamoring for officers… It is a very high-risk job and lately, it’s become a very thankless job. It’s very twisted, it’s almost as if the law is against the law enforcement officer.”