Minneapolis City Council committee moves police union contract forward

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (FOX 9) - A committee of the Minneapolis City Council sent the city's tentative agreement with the police union forward to the full council for a possible final vote on Thursday. 

The $9 million agreement, which is 135 pages long, is the product of months of negotiations and runs through the end of the year. It includes pay raises for officers and 7,000 incentive payments for both new officers and veterans who remain on the force through the end of the year. 

The city's labor relations director, Holland Atkinson, presented the contract to the committee, urging that council members pass it. He cautioned that a "no" note would send the city and the union into a binding arbitration process, which could potentially roll back concessions the city had won from the union in negotiation, such as statements supporting race and gender equity. 

He said that the charges to the discipline process some council members and critics had asked would be better achieved through other mechanisms, such as changes to police policy manuals.

"We keep policy manuals out of labor agreements to maintain flexibility and unilaterally to make policy changes on the fly when we need to," he said. 

He argued that adding to the agreement's discipline section was not necessary, as it already gives the city sufficient authority.

"The labor agreement already grants the city the authority to take disciplinary action when we meet ‘just cause.’ This is something that is already included. I think there is a large misconception that by adding things into the agreement is how we gain authority. That is simply not the case," he said. 

Councilmember Aisha Chugtai expressed skepticism on that point, saying some members of the public had urged the council to do more.

"We have community members left and right telling us, why are we not doing something about discipline here? 

Holland also stressed that the pay raises and incentives included in the new contract are urgently needed to keep officers on the force as well as attract new ones in a "hot" labor market in which officers can find jobs in most areas of the country. 

"We need to act with haste to ensure we can actually begin bringing forward new folks into our work environment. We need to make sure to start advertising our new pay scales and incentives to attract new officers," Holland said. 

Councilmember Robin Wonsley Worlobah countered that, while recruitment is needed, hiring the wrong officers could backfire if the city faces lawsuits for police misconduct. 

"I get recruiting but if we’re recruiting batches of officers that are not meeting quality standards then we end up liable and end up paying way more than is actually included as financial incentives in this contract."

The Policy & Government Oversight Committee passed the tentative agreement on to the full council "without recommendation," who will take it up on Thursday at 9:30 am.