As was the case three years ago, it only took two bargaining sessions for River Forest village officials and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 46 to reach agreement on a new three-year contract.
Village board members ratified the contract by unanimous vote at their March 23 meeting. The action was approved as part of the consent agenda with no discussion. The FOP membership approved the contract March 18.
Under the new contract, which will take effect May 1, the 28 FOP members each will receive a 3.25% salary increase in each of the three years. The increase was the same under the expiring three-year deal. Health insurance contributions will remain unchanged from the previous contract.
In a memo to Matt Walsh, village administrator, Trish Ivansek, human resources director, said staff members surveyed 15 villages to compare River Forest’s contract to the union’s proposed contract.
Walsh said there are two main reasons for the successful and quick negotiations.
“The village board is committed to attracting and retaining our public safety officers and recognizes the need to be competitive,” he said. “Our command staff of chief, deputy chief and commander make a point to have regular conversations and meetings with union officials to ensure that there are no pressing, serious issues that may carry over to negatively impact negotiations or, more importantly, day to day operations.”
The contract also includes compressing steps from nine to eight and three longevity steps.
“Compressing the steps allows officers to reach top pay in one fewer year,” Walsh said. “The longevity steps provide an increase to officers beyond those initial steps. Officers receive an increase when they reach 10 years of service, another at 15 years of service then again at 20 years of service. This helps retain our veteran officers.”
Trustee Bob O’Connell thanked Ivansek for her work on the contract.
Village President Cathy Adduci agreed.
“We need to keep in mind how important these things are,” she said.
The deal keeps all three unions representing village employees under contract.
The village’s contract with River Forest Firefighters Local 2391 expires in 2027 and the contract with Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, which represents the public works employees, expired in 2028.