By Jennifer Gomori, POJ Editor
Orchard Lake Police have been POLC members for quite some time now and their last contract really brought home the reasons why. The group received 13 percent pay increases and a plethora of other exceptional enhancements.
“It was 13 percent for the 3 years. We did awesome — (POLC Labor Rep.) Chris (Hild) is amazing,” said David McNealy, Orchard Lake Police Local Union Vice President.
The bargaining agreement became effective July 1, 2025 with a 5 percent increase the first year, followed by a 4.5 percent hike the second year and another 3.5 percent pay increase effective July 1, 2027. Additionally, Sergeants pay differential increased from 7 percent to 12 percent above the top paid Patrol Officer. Detectives were formerly paid the same wage as the top paid Patrol Officer and now are receiving 3 percent above the top paid Patrol Officer. 
The rest of the benefit enhancements were just as noteworthy. “The most significant thing we asked for was our vesting years of service to be lowered,” McNealy said. “Originally, it was 7 years to vest in the 401(a) (Defined Contribution plan) and we were totally happy with 5! We have a small department and some of us vested in 7 years, and some were not vested, so getting it down to 5 years was very significant.”
Their Healthcare Retirement Savings Account vesting transformed substantially, with a three-fold reduction in years of service.
“Prior to (this contract), it was 20 years to vest. We got that down to 5 years!” he said. “It kicks in after retirement, but prior to that, you had to get almost 20 years (of service) to have access to it. There were some officers who would never access it.”
The City increased their contribution to Employees’ Healthcare Retirement Savings plans from $2,500 to $3,000 per year. Employees also received a boost in their annual Opt Out pay for declining health care insurance, which increased from $3,000 to $3,500. Dental and Optical is now 100 percent covered by the Employer, with no out-of-pocket costs, and the annual benefits limit doubled from $1,000 to $2,000. Disability coverage also doubled.
“With injury, prior to this, on duty, you had 6 months of coverage. We got that increased to 1 year,” McNealy said. “You need time to recover.”
This is the first contract negotiations McNealy participated in as a POLC member, having been with the department only 1-1/2 years. He helped negotiate ‘quite a few’ agreements through POAM in the 10 years he served as West Bloomfield Township Police Local Union President. He described the experience as being ‘like night and day’.
“I retired from West Bloomfield Township and I was voted onto this board as Vice President because of my experience negotiating contracts,” McNealy said. “I was pleasantly surprised. Dealing with the other Union Business Agent, he just wasn’t as attentive and I think disinterested to be quite honest. Chris shepherded us through our negotiations — he handled it. He had my immediate respect. As soon as I met him, I realized the Police Officers Labor Council was operating at a different level compared to my previous Union experience.”
Orchard Lake Police Local President Garet Malott, who has been with the department 14 years, has a longer history with POLC. He was voted onto the Local Board as Alternate Steward in 2013, advancing to President in 2020.
“The POLC has been great, and Chris is fantastic!” Malott said. “I’ve always been very impressed with our representation, but I’d have to say Chris has been outstanding since becoming our Rep. back in 2020ish. Not only does he truly care about us, he is very knowledgeable and always available to talk.”
Other advancements in the bargaining agreement involved Personal Leave and Funeral Leave, which each increased from 24 hours to 36 hours, and most importantly, those leaves were clarified in the CBA as the equivalent of three 12-hour workdays. “We’re on 12-hour shifts, so 24 hours is two days, or if you really look at it, 24 hours is one day,” McNealy said. “I had to go over this with our administration. It was not in the contract.”
“We got Funeral Leave under its own category with 36 hours for immediate family,” he said, adding there was just one line about Funeral Leave in the prior agreement. The new category details which family members are considered immediate family. “We specifically asked for that and our City was gracious enough to give us that,” McNealy said.
Employees now have the option to sell back up to 96 hours of Holiday Leave per year. “We had a pretty great contract, and this just made it that much better,” Malott said. “Our negotiations went great and our members are pleased with the results!”
“Chris was in constant contact with us via email and telephone, even though I know he has a significant workload, and we’re a smaller agency,” McNealy said of the 11-member group. “He knew our community and he knew our police department. He knows our City Manager. I feel he negotiates in good faith. He really was plugged into us and that made me feel really good.
“If every Rep. works as hard as he does, there’s no stopping this Union from growing in my mind in Michigan. Chris is an outstanding representation of Police Officers Labor Council and I hope everyone is fortunate enough to have a Business Agent like him!”
