Sterling Heights council approves multi-year collective bargaining agreements with two employee units

City Manager Mark Vanderpool presented two collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) and related memoranda of understanding covering 01/01/2026 through 06/30/2030 for two bargaining groups: the Michigan Association of Public Employees (MAPE) Professional/Technical unit and the Michigan Association of Police Clerical Employees.

Vanderpool said the new wage scales — reflecting higher starting wages, increases to top steps and a reduction in steps to reach the top rate — produce a base wage increase in the first year of at least 10% for all job classifications; employees with under five years' tenure could see larger first-year increases because of step compression and starting pay increases. Subsequent raises are scheduled at 1.5% on July 1, 2027 and July 1, 2028 and 1.0% on July 1, 2029. For the first time part-time employees will receive the same hourly rate as full-time employees in equivalent classifications, Vanderpool said.

The agreements increase the city's defined-contribution retirement contribution for participants from 7% to 10% by the end of the contract period and raise the city's annual post-employment health account contribution for the two groups by $500. Vanderpool also described a health-assessment incentive that provides up to $750 for an employee and $500 for a spouse who complete an annual physical and risk assessment at the city's on-site health center.

MAPE President Robert Surgad thanked management and the bargaining teams for collaborative negotiations and urged council to approve the agreements, noting stresses from recruitment and retention in recent years. Council members asked clarifying questions about future reclassification requests; Vanderpool described a move from automatic third-party reclassification reviews toward a collaborative manager-employee review process under the new agreements. Council voted to approve both agreements by voice vote.