Meditation between city, police and fire unions fails

June 27--After nearly a year of protests, litigation and negotiating, the Evansville public safety unions and the city administration are still fighting over health insurance costs.

The hangup is how much of a pay increase the city will give police and fire union members to offset their new city health insurance plan.

The groups' court-recommended mediation with a third party earlier this month ended without an agreement.

Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 73 and Firefighters Local 357 members took to City Council's meeting Monday.

"Unfortunately, the mayor refused to negotiate other than delivering one offer in a take-it-or-leave-it proposal rather than work with the mediator to negotiate a satisfactory resolution for all parties," FOP President Chuck Knoll said.

Winnecke on Tuesday said both sides have made offers and counter-offers since negotiations reopened in January.

"I would disagree that the city has bargained in bad faith. We have been available and met at every request and I would hate for people to think we are bargaining in bad faith," Winnecke said.

He later added: "Offers they don't like should not be equated with bad-faith bargaining."

Winnecke said he was only personally present at a January negotiation meeting.

The union and city mediation was June 8.

Mediator D. Timothy Born filed a succinct report with Vanderburgh County Superior Court Judge Les Shively's office following the mediation:

"Mediation was conducted in this matter on June 8, 2017. No agreement was reached among the parties," he wrote in the two-sentence report.

The unions sued the city in October 2016, asking the courts to stop the city's new health insurance plan from taking effect. The 2017 plan included higher costs for employees. Shively denied the injunction but ruled the city and unions would reopen contract negotiations.

After those contract negotiations stalled, Shively recommended mediation.

Both groups will meet next week with Shively for a progress hearing.

At the center of the issue is city expenses. The city's hospitalization fund, from which the city pays employee health insurance claims, had a negative balance of $4 million as of Friday, according to Evansville City Controller Russ Lloyd.

"Clearly, there was not enough revenue coming into the system," Winnecke said in reference to why the city changed the employee health insurance plan last year.

So far, there are fewer high-dollar claims this year than last, he said. Winnecke said the goal is to not change the employee health insurance plan for 2018.

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