advertisement

---

Earlier this week, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) and the Fraternal Order of Police-Ohio Labor Council (FOP-OLC) agreed on a new contract, which FOP members have ratified.

New provisions in the contact, which will extend through Feb. 28, 2014, include a wage freeze retroactive from March 2010 to September 2011, and a 1.75 percent wage increase in September based on RTA’s 2010 revenue increases from fares and sales taxes, GCRTA officials said in a prepared statement.

The last wage increase for FOP-OLC members occurred in 2009. In March 2012 and March 2013, future wage adjustments, if any, will be based on actual increases in continuing fare and sales tax revenue from the previous year, with a cap of 3 percent, according to the new contract. FOP members also will incur increases in their premiums for health insurance, unless they meet certain health standards.

The agreement “ties a wage increase, if any, to RTA’s ability to pay those increases,” said Joe Calabrese, GCRTA’s chief executive officer and general manager. “Additionally, tying in financial incentives to encourage healthy employees is a growing trend in many businesses.”

FOP-OLC, the smaller of the agency’s two unions, represents 104 active members working for GCRTA. The agency has yet to reach an agreement with its larger union, the Amalgamated Transit Union, officials said.