Police union, city of Toledo reach tentative agreement

5/15/2010

The city and the Toledo Police Patrolman's Association reached a tentative agreement Friday with the help of representatives from the State Employment Relations Board.

The proposed agreement must be ratified by union members and approved by Toledo City Council, said Jen Sorgenfrei, a spokesman for the city.

She said the pact was reached during a meeting outside of Toledo that was attended by a handful of city leaders.

Details of the agreement were not released last night.

Dan Wagner, president of the TPPA, could not be reached for comment.

SERB recently found probable cause that both the city of Toledo and its police union may have engaged in collective bargaining violations as part of their continuing standoff over forced contract concessions.

At that time, SERB authorized the Ohio Attorney General's Office to ask Lucas County Common Pleas Court on its behalf for an injunction to halt the city's actions against the TPPA.

Each side has accused the other of engaging in unfair labor practices. The police union has accused the city of unilaterally changing the terms of an existing contract and refusing to bargain in good faith.

The city, in turn, has accused the union of improperly engaging in a "blue flu" by having an unusually large number of its members call off "sick" on April 5 and 6 in apparent protest of the city's action to impose concessions in midcontract.