A view of downtown Ketchikan, seen from the cruise ship Vaandam. (KRBD photo by Leila Kheiry)
Three union contracts are up for approval Thursday by the Ketchikan City Council.
Two contracts are with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the third is with the city’s firefighters union. IBEW negotiates separate contracts with the city and the city-owned Ketchikan Public Utilities.
Each contract would last three years, starting in January of 2018. They each call for raises of 1.6 percent in the first year, and 2 percent each of the subsequent years.
All other terms of the contracts would remain the same as the current agreement, according to a memo from City Manager Karl Amylon.
Amylon writes that the city contract with IBEW would cost an additional $432,000. KPU’s contract with IBEW would cost an additional $880,000; and the firefighters’ agreement would cost an additional $178,000.
Executive sessions are scheduled in case city council members want to discuss the agreements before voting.
A fourth executive session has been scheduled for the council to discuss ongoing contract negotiations with the police officers’ union.
Also Thursday, the council will vote on a couple of motions formalizing an $80,000 grant for a nighttime warming center. The council agreed during its last meeting to provide the grant to First City Homeless Services. The two motions would transfer funds to pay for the grant, and ratify a grant agreement.
Thursday’s council meeting starts at 7 p.m. in city council chambers. Public comment will be heard at the start of the meeting.
