Police officers and firefighters will see bigger pay raises than other city workers over the next two years.
Waterloo City Council members voted 6-0 Monday to approve new four-year collective bargaining agreements with seven labor unions representing roughly 430 city workers.
While most police officers and firefighters will see 3.25 percent raises July 1, 2019, and 3 percent raises July 1, 2020, employees represented by other bargaining units will see just 2.5 percent annual raises during those years. Raises for the final two years of the contracts would be negotiated in the future.
Human Resources Director Lance Dunn said the wage disparity is tied to changes Gov. Terry Branstad and the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature made to the state’s collective bargaining laws in February 2017. “Public safety employees could negotiate pretty much the same things they always have,” Dunn said. “Non-public safety employees could only negotiate base wages.”