Fulton: CIR Reform Needed to Avoid More City Taxes

KETV News Channel 7 | By Todd Andrews on April 30th, 2010

Mayor: Negotiations To Resume Between City, Police

Jim Suttle Says Council Members Won’t Be Present At Talks

OMAHA, Neb. — Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle said he’ll do all he can to bring the city and the police union back to negotiations after talks broke down Tuesday when council members rejected the union’s latest offer.The mayor said negotiations will resume Friday without the presence of council members. He’s hoping the talks will head off any action by the Commission of Industrial Relations, which resolves public sector labor disputes.The police union’s executive board met Tuesday night and filed with the commission after talks broke down.Suttle said the legal action could cost the city $5 million in lost wages.”That’s a cost we have no source with which to cover,” Suttle said.State Sen. Tony Fulton, who’s behind a legislative bill that would reform the CIR, said taxpayers could foot a big bill if the dispute goes to the commission.For example, the rejected contract called for wage freezes for police, but the commission could demand instead that the city actually pay retroactive raises to police.Costing the city now is the fact that police continue to work under their old contract, which allows for pension spiking. The $500 million pension shortfall is also going unaddressed.