
CORNWALL – The union representing the bulk of staff with the Cornwall Community Police Service has reached a tentative agreement with the Cornwall Police Services Board.
The deal was capped just before 5 p.m. this afternoon (April 26) after four days of bargaining this month.
“We managed to resolve a number of issues that we brought forward and overall we’re very satisfied with the deal and we feel the board’s been very fair in how they dealt with us,” Cornwall Police Association President Dave MacLean told Cornwall Newswatch.
Pat Finucan, lead negotiator for the police board, told CNW he’s “delighted” with the agreement.
“The board negotiating team is very happy with the tentative settlement that has been reached with the Cornwall Police Association. We believe that both parties have reached an agreement that is satisfactory to them and we look forward to ratification by our respective parties,” Finucan said.
Details of the contract are not being released until it’s ratified by the membership on May 12, 2016.
The board will likely ratify the contract after its regular board meeting May 4, 2016 and a signing ceremony is scheduled for May 20, 2016.
Both sides headed into bargaining confident they would get a deal done before the end of the month.
The unionized members of the police force – including front-line officers, office staff and dispatchers – have been without a contract since the end of 2015.
The deal covers around 130 employees – everyone except employees under the Cornwall Police Senior Officers Association, the police chief and deputy chief.
The last collective agreement had increases of 2.75 per cent in 2013, 2.5 per cent in 2014 and 1.5 per cent in 2015.
At the end of the last year, an entry-level, first-class constable was making $90,475.