Oct. 11, 2002 – The administration reached agreement on a new contract with the Law Enforcement Supervisors Union, and the union membership ratified it a week ago. What remains is for Gov. Charles W. Turnbull to sign the pact.
Neither Karen Andrews, Government House chief negotiator, nor Sgt. Merlin Christian, LESU public relations officer, was willing to disclose details of the contract.
Shortly before agreement was reached, Christian said, the negotiations were on the verge of breaking down. But she said the parties were able to resolve their outstanding differences. "Now it's up to the governor to sign it, so we can get our NOPA's straightened out," she said Wednesday, referring to the notices of personnel action that govern the payment of wages and benefits.
According to a Government House release, the new contract covers 96 sergeants, lieutenants, captains and supervisory corrections officers. Agencies covered under the agreement are the Police Department, Youth Rehabilitation Center (operating within the Human Services Department) and the Corrections Bureau (operating within the V.I. Justice Department).
Christian said one thing that has changed is the term of the contract, which used to run between two and three years. She also said union leaders would have liked to extend the wage scale to cover supervisors who have been on the job more than 30 years.
Both sides said they will make details of the contract public once the governor completes the ratification process with his signature. Andrews said that could come as early as Friday.
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