By Jennifer Gomori, POJ Editor
Ironwood Public Safety Officers had gotten used to negotiating their own bargaining agreements, despite having Union representation. Making the switch to the POLC not only brought their labor representative to the bargaining table, it netted them huge raises and benefit increases.
The Officers had been members of the Police Officers Association of Michigan (POAM) for at least 15 years when they voted unanimously in May 2025 to join the POLC.
“We just felt we were not getting represented correctly. We weren’t getting our money’s worth essentially,” said Jason Roberts, Ironwood Public Safety Officers (PSO’s) former Local Union President. “I’ve been here for two contracts now and the first time myself, Brandon Snyder, and Matt Sterbenz did negotiations and the second time, (POLC Labor Rep.) Mike Griffin came and helped us. I will say that Brandon Snyder and Matt Sterbenz are both very smart, and they could probably be business agents themselves. They negotiated a lot of contracts without POAM. They said they got better results just being there on their own.”
When Roberts notified POAM about their plan to switch representation, he was informed they couldn’t legally do that. “I kind of had it out with them. I was the (Local) Union President at the time when we voted to make the switch, and they were not very nice about it,” he said.
POAM notified him that Ironwood Public Safety was bound by a service agreement the locals signed in the early 2000s, requiring them to remain with the Union until their contract officially expired, Roberts said. Initially, they were threatened with a lawsuit if they switched representation. However, Roberts said, later that week they were assigned a new business agent.
“(A POAM representative) essentially accused me of being a rogue president and going against what my legacy members would want,” Roberts said. “I said, ‘Sir, little do you know, but your legacy members voted to switch our Union.’ I told him, ‘Your business agent … is like a mystical creature. I’ve heard a lot about him, but I’ve never seen him.’ The new agent came here and was very nice and professional, but the relationship was too damaged at that point. We were ready to move on.”
Ironwood PSO’s heard about the POLC’s excellent service from POLC members, L’Anse Village Police Officers. Ironwood Public Safety Officers were immediately impressed with the POLC’s professionalism from attorneys and Director Jim Stachowski to their new Labor Rep. Michael Griffin. The POLC helped them make the transition without any legal headaches.
“Jim was super great dealing with the process of coming on board with the POLC. Anytime I called Griff, he answered and was always on top of things,” Roberts said. “I text him and communicate with him all the time. Communication is a thousand times better with them being there for us and available to talk with us. I’ve seen Griff more in 5 months than I saw (the POAM Rep.) in 5 years.”
“They were able to negotiate, but we couldn’t sign until after our contract expired,” he said. “(POAM representatives) said that was our service agreement, and they’d take it to MERC. POLC lawyers said just wait until (the contract) expires. We didn’t want them and they continued to try to ram it down our throats.”
The wait was worth it, with the 11-member group receiving incredible pay increases as high as 38 percent in the first year of the POLC-negotiated agreement, which began Sept. 22, 2025. First-year wages ranged from 10 to 38 percent depending on Officers positions on the restructured pay scale. All Employees received another 5 percent in July 2026, and 5 percent more in July 2027. Total wage increases during the 3-year contract are 20 to 48 percent.
On top of that, Sergeants wages are 8 percent over the base Patrol Officers’ wage and Lieutenants receive 16 percent more than Officers’ base wage.
Newly added to their agreement are Retention Wage Rates of $1 per hour extra at the start of Employees’ fifth year of service; $1.50 additional hourly pay at the beginning of the seventh year; and $2 additional hourly pay starting their tenth year of service.
“It was a lot! I essentially ended up with a 38 percent raise,” Roberts said of his pay increase in 2025. “It was a sliding scale — some ended up with more than others.”
Shift Differentials increased to $.80 cents per hour for afternoons and $1 an hour for midnights. Part-Time Public Safety Officers received a new benefit — those who work Holidays receive 1-1/2 times their hourly rate of pay. “This was implemented strictly as an incentive to ensure coverage if there is a fire on a Holiday,” Griffin said. “Previously, Part-Time Employees did not receive time and a half for Holidays and the department was experiencing difficulty getting people to come in.”
“If they’re at home, they get the Overtime rate to fight fires, and it’s an incentive to pick up Holiday shifts,” Roberts said.
Having the POLC in their corner at negotiations proved to be extremely beneficial since the Employer was pursuing a reduction in retirement benefits. Thanks to Union efforts, existing retirement benefits were maintained.
“They tried to raise our retirement age to 55. We ended up filing for mediation, and once the mediator got involved, we worked through it,” Roberts said. “It’s age 50, with 25 years (of service) or 60 years with a minimum of 10 years (of service) and vested at 10 years. We have some guys that are pretty close to retiring. That would’ve really extended their careers.”
