A
panel of arbitrators has decided to side with the Springfield police union over
the question of a residency requirement for city police officers.
A
written decision has not yet been issued, but multiple sources have told Illinois
Times that the city did not prevail in its quest to require police officers
to live within city limits.
“Of
course, it’s a disappointment,” said Mayor Jim Langfelder, who said that he’s
been informed of the decision. “You win some, you lose some.”
The
city and union went to binding arbitration in June after contract negotiations
broke down. While ruling in favor of the union on residency, arbitrators sided
with the city on economic issues, sources said. The panel of three arbitrators
is expected to issue a final written decision next week. Police officers have
been working without a contract since February, 2015.
Langfelder
made residency for city employees a cornerstone of his mayoral campaign two
years ago. So far, more than a dozen unions representing city workers have agreed
to residency clauses in collective bargaining agreements. The latest such
agreement was reached on Oct. 3, when the city council approved a contract with
the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, one of the city’s largest
unions.
As
with other collective bargaining agreements that contain residency clauses, the
residency requirement in the IBEW contract grandfathers current employees who now live outside the city so that they would not have to move. Future hires, however, must live in Springfield.
The
police contract affects more than 200 officers. According to a 2015 report in
the State Journal-Register, more than
30 percent of the city’s employees lived outside Springfield two years ago. Thirty percent of
police officers lived outside the city, according the 2015 report, and 45 percent of firefighters lived outside the city.
Firefighters
have been working without a contract since February of last year, but
arbitrators have not been called in to resolve outstanding issues, including
whether firefighters hired in the future should be required to live within city
limits.
Contact Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Oct 19-25, 2017.
