The Brighton City Council has ratified a new, multi-year contract with the city's clerical employees.

The union workers had already ratified the pact. City Manager Nate Geinzer tells WHMI the contract is very similar to the one ratified a couple of weeks ago with city DPW workers. The contract, which became effective Thursday upon council ratification, includes a 3% pay increase the first year, and 2.5% pay hikes the second and third years of the contract.

The agreement closes the city's pension plan for new hires in the clerical unit. It likewise grants a one-time opportunity for current employees who want to convert to a defined contribution program. It also allows the city to remove one position from the union that being - the assistant assessor position - because of what Geinzer calls the challenges of keeping the post filled due to the extensive skill set required.

Like their counterparts at the DPW, the city’s clerical employees are represented at the bargaining table by T-POAM – the Technical, Professional and Officeworkers Association of Michigan. The other union representing city employees is the Police Officers Labor Council, which represents both the police patrol officers unit and the command officers unit. Those two bargaining units have yet to come to terms with the city on a new contract, but Geinzer says negotiations are ongoing and the officers are continuing to work in good faith. (TT)