Mansfield City Council, FOP unions both approve new 3-year labor contracts

MANSFIELD — Mayor Jodie Perry went to bed Tuesday night secure in the knowledge there was not another labor negotiation meeting scheduled.

At last for now.

Mansfield City Council, albeit two members short, voted unanimously on Tuesday evening to approve three-year labor agreements with the city’s police officers.

The vote came after a 37-minute executive session and no lawmakers commented during the meeting on the agreement.

The new contracts with the “Gold” unit, representing police command officers (captains, lieutenants and sergeants), and the “Blue” unit, which represents police officers, are the third and fourth agreements with the city’s organized labor unions in the last eight months.

Both law enforcement bargaining units are members of the Fraternal Order of Police, William Taylor Lodge #32. The current contract expired July 31, 2025.

Members of the two unions had previously overwhelmingly approved the two new deals.

The city reached a new three-year deal with the International Association of Firefighters Local 266 in January, a deal that includes 12.25-percent wage increases over the life of the deal. That contract was retroactive to April 1, 2025.

That pay increase was in line with what AFSCME Local 3088 received in its three-year contract approved in August 2025. It’s retroactive to May 1, 2024.

The new police deals are retroactive to Jan. 1 and run through Dec. 31, 2028. Perry said details of the contracts will be made public when both sides have an opportunity to sign the agreements.

“I am happy to complete a full cycle of negotiations with our unions,” Perry said.

“It was a chance for our administration to establish strong working relationships with the bargaining units,” said Perry, who took office in January 2024.

“We have brought back regular Labor-Management Committee meetings, which have led to the ability to handle issues that may pop up more quickly.”

Mansfield police Det. Korey Kaufman, president of the FOP Blue Unit, attended Tuesday night’s council meeting.

“I’m very pleased with City Council’s decision to unanimously pass our new contract,” he said.

“We are blessed to have an administration who understands what the Mansfield Division of Police officers go through every day to protect the citizens of Mansfield.

“I believe it is a fair contract to which both sides gave up concessions to make it work.”

The mayor said negotiations with the FOP were “a really good example of the union and the administration working together to find some common areas.”

“I think it provides a good increase in pay for our officers, which of course, is something that we know is really top of mind. The administration was able to get some things that are important to our side, just making sure that we continue to have a really positive working relationship with the FOP,” Perry said.

“There wasn’t a ton of changes in the overall contract (language). It passed overwhelmingly for them and I am very pleased with council’s support tonight.”

The previous deal between the city and the FOP units came in March 2022 when the city only had 74 sworn officers and was in danger of losing more to lateral transfers to other cities.

Eight of those 74 were new officers who just graduated from the police academy and had not yet entered field training for a department — then budgeted at 87 officers. At that time, the city’s three-year contract was not set to expire until July 31, 2022. Council approved retention bonuses at the same time it approved the agreement.

Staffing has since somewhat stabilized. Mansfield hired nine new officers three months ago, aimed at increasing the number of sworn officers in the department to 86, four below current authorized staffing levels of 90.

The mayor said the city sought minor contractual tweaks this time.

“There was some language in terms of assignments that we addressed. We also looked at a change in how overtime was calculated for some special assignments. But not a lot of huge things,” Perry said.

“I believe that the last time the police had a contract passed, they did do quite a substantial change on it.

“So as opposed to maybe some of the other (union) contracts we’ve done, where we did a little bit more substantial change, I would characterize this one as a little more standard amount of changes and the focus really became on the wages,” Perry said.

“I think both sides were satisfied with where we ended up. We have thankfully been able to hit full staffing. Of course, as soon as you hit it … it rolls back and we’ve had retirements, so we’re not quite there yet again.

“But we’re talking a handful, nothing like the dozen-plus we had last time.”

She said maintaining staffing levels is crucial.

“From a positive and proactive policing aspect, when we have to have everyone on patrol, we just don’t have as much time for community policing,” the mayor said.