Detroit, Police Reach Pact

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing announced Friday that the city had reached a tentative agreement with its police unions, the latest in a series of labor deals as officials scramble to avoid a state takeover.

The police union agreement reportedly features wage freezes until 2015 and increases in employee health care contributions.

Michigan officials, who are in the midst of reviewing the city’s finances to see if there is a fiscal emergency, have said Bing needs to reach agreements with union by early February to avoid a takeover.

The administration has now reached agreements with most of the city’s 48 unions. It still needs to reach a deal with the firefighters’ unions.

Members of the police union still need to ratify the deal.

“This is what we’re taking to the membership,” Joe Duncan, president of the Detroit Police Officers Association, told the Detroit News. “The bottom line is, we could do nothing and have an emergency financial manager come in, or we could do this.”

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