Command officers, Fremont end dispute over contract

3/17/2001

FREMONT -- City council and unionized police command officers have allowed a fact-finder's report to take effect without acting on it, ending a contract dispute.

Fact-finder Howard Silver decided two disputed issues between the city and members of the Ohio Patrolman's Benevolent Association. He sided with the union's demand that nonunion officers be required to pay “fair share” fees in lieu of dues and lowered the differential for sergeants and captains from 14 percent above the rank immediately below them to 12 percent.

Other issues had been settled earlier in the proposed three-year contract, which is retroactive to Jan. 1. The command officers will get raises of 4 percent in each of the first two years and a 3 percent raise in the third year, the same increases negotiated with the police department's patrolmen and dispatchers.