OCEAN CITY — Ocean City officials this week quietly and without fanfare ratified an amendment to the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 10 collective bargaining agreement, extending the contract with the town’s police officers for another year.
The Mayor and Council on Monday approved a resolution ratifying an amendment to extend the FOP’s 2018-2021 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for one year. In exchange for the amendment, which extends the FOP contract through June 30, 2022, the town will provide a one-step increase for eligible employees on the wage scale.
The resolution was approved unanimously on Monday with no discussion after the FOP Lodge 10 negotiating team worked out the details with the city’s negotiating team. After an often-contentious battle, in 2004 the FOP Lodge 10 members earned the right to collectively bargain with the Town of Ocean City after the issue was approved through a referendum by the city’s electorate.
In the years since, the collective bargaining agreement between to the town of Ocean City and the FOP has been renegotiated and renewed largely without conflict. The FOP collective bargaining agreement covers a wide gamut of issues from, of course, wages and benefits, pay scales and hours of work and overtime. It also covers areas such as discipline, pension plan contributions, grievance and arbitration procedures, uniform allowances and even strike, boycott and lockout protections.
