Milwaukee police union votes to ratify labor agreement with City of Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee Police Association (MPA) says members have "overwhelmingly" voted to ratify a new labor agreement with the City of Milwaukee after more than three years at a standstill.

Under the proposed labor contract, officers receive a 14.25% raise over four years — through 2026. When compounded, it’s about a 15% boost.

Officers will also get retroactive pay for 2023 through 2025 — making up for the increase in wages they missed while there was no contract.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson says he’s glad both sides reached a deal. 

“We struck a tentative agreement with the MPA, was happy about that and now there’s a really, really important responsibility that has to take place here with members of the union and also our city council," said Mayor Johnson. “There’s no delay here. like we always wanted to get something done and that’s exactly what happened now”

Union president Alex Ayala says it took far too long.

“That’s not true, otherwise, we would have done this three years ago like I said," said Ayala. "The frustration comes in when we knew the city could have always done this and they chose not to do that.”

Ayala says the city and taxpayers could have saved money if the MPA and city did not go to arbitration for six days. 

"I know that we spent close to $200,000 to go to arbitration and then the taxpayers have to pay for their counsel to represent the city to fight their own police officers," said Ayala. 

The city’s original offer was a 9% raise with no back pay. The police union countered with a 12.75% raise over three years.

“We’ve always wanted to get a deal done," said Mayor Johnson.

While a deal may have been reached now, Ayala says he’s not optimistic about the future. In just eight months – the city and the MPA will need to begin negotiation for future contracts.

"For the next contract, the city is not going to want to pay us our wages again and we’re going to have to go to arbitration again, 100%," said Ayala. 

MPA says approval is still required from the Common Council.

In a statement Thursday, the Milwaukee Police Department said:

"MPD is pleased that there are new developments in the negotiation process resulting in a tentative agreement between the City and our membership. We are grateful for the work that the men and women of the Milwaukee Police Department do to keep our City safe 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, weekend and holidays included."