Gladwin council ratifies tentative DPW contract with Operating Engineers Local 324

Gladwin City Council ratified a tentative agreement with Operating Engineers Local 324 for the Department of Public Works on Aug. 4, concluding a closed-session negotiation and approving the contract terms described in an Aug. 2, 2025 draft. The council moved into closed session at 5:18 p.m. to discuss DPW strategy and collective bargaining and returned to open session at 5:54 p.m., after which the ratification motion passed by roll call.

Council Member Caffrey moved to enter the closed session, and Council Member Platt supported it; after the closed session Council Member Caffrey moved to ratify the Tentative Agreement with Operating Engineers Local 324 based on the August 2, 2025 contract draft, including Appendix A, with nonsubstantive language cleanup as necessary. The roll-call vote listed ayes from Caffrey, Crawford, Darlington, Esiline, Gutierrez, Platt, Sischo and Winarski; there were no nays or abstentions.

City Manager and staff comments during the meeting framed the contract as a municipal labor action that will influence departmental staffing costs. Interim City Manager Kimberly Hines and council members later linked ratification of the DPW agreement to a broader personnel compensation discussion at the same meeting, when the council approved a 3% across-the-board pay adjustment for most staff (police excluded pending union consultation).

The council treated the ratification as a formal contractual action; the August 2, 2025 draft and Appendix A were cited on the record as the basis for the approved terms. The motion specified that nonsubstantive language cleanup could be performed as necessary. No further implementation timeline or budget line-item adjustments were stated at the meeting.