Union, Las Vegas to work on deal

Dan Kulin

Thursday, Feb. 9, 2006 | 12:30 p.m.

Four years after their last failed attempt to negotiate a new contract, Las Vegas' largest employees' union and administration officials are headed back to the bargaining table next week.

As usual, wage increases look to be the top issue for the Las Vegas City Employees' Association, with union President Tommy Ricketts planning to seek salary hikes of 3.7 percent to 4.1 percent for the roughly 1,500 employees he represents. The new contract, like previous ones, likely will be a four-year deal.

The union's current contract, which was ultimately settled by an arbitrator more than a year after talks began, expires June 17. Representatives from both sides say they expect to have a new deal in place by then.

"I think we're optimistic heading into this," Ricketts said. "I don't see any big issues here."

City Human Resources Director Claudette Enus would not comment on the potential specifics of a new deal, or any issues the city will bring to the table.

"The parties have talked about an accelerated process and both parties are optimistic," Enus said.

The two sides will meet for the first time to discuss a new contract next Wednesday.

Four years ago, the union and city clashed over cost-of-living wage increases for city employees. The city offered about 1.5 percent, but the union ultimately received a 3 percent increase.

The cost-of-living raises that the union wants for the new contract are in line with the rise in the consumer price index for the Western states, Ricketts said.

Ricketts said that he hopes to keep insurance issues out of the negotiations.

The Employees' Association is one of four unions that represent city workers. The city's firefighters, detention center staff and Metro Police have their own unions.

The city has 3,158 employees, 2,783 of whom are full-time workers.

Dan Kulin can be reached at 259-8826 or at dan@lasvegassun.com.