NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Interim City Manager Mary Grace Clements said that the city is finalizing agreements with its different bargaining units.
"I'm very happy and pleased that everyone, the FOP and the IAFF and the SEIU are the three unions that we deal with," Clements said. "They are four different work groups throughout all the city workers. This is my first year negotiating at the table with those unions. I have done that in the past, with different employment, jobs I've had. I will say that everyone came to the table and we were able to really have some great dialogue and some good discussions and some good compromises."
Splitting up the one pie in a way that was fair to all groups is always a challenge.
"I found that everyone was eager to come to the table and do a collaborative effort," Clements said. "I've been told that we have gotten all these four unions in tentative agreements, which will take place at the beginning of next year, to have it all done by this time of the year is very rare."
Clements praised the efforts of HR Director Tom Sanders to bring the research to the table to allow agreements to be reached quickly.
"It's quite a large lift to be able to say, how does Hutchinson compare to other entities," Clements said. "How do we be competitive, but how do we be a good steward of all the financials we have for the city. It's very challenging."
The budget hearing for the City of Hutchinson will be held as part of the Sept. 5 meeting.
CLICK HERE to download the Hutch Post mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.