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Centerville police to unionize, negotiations ongoing

CENTERVILLE — The first ever union for the City of Centerville Police Department has been organized and negotiations are now underway for a collective bargaining agreement, according to the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.

The organization tells this news organization the police department signed on earlier this year with the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, and said negotiations began in the last few weeks.

The OPBA said the state certified the bargaining unit earlier this year.

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The OPBA said both sides signed ground rules for negotiation, and among those are a mutual agreement to not publicly discuss the negotiations until an impasse or agreement is reached.

According to the OPBA, all collective bargaining talks in Ohio for public sector employees are governed by Chapter 4117 of the Ohio revised code, and holds that for new bargaining units, progress is made over a 90-day period.

Spokesman Joe Hegedus with the OPBA said with that in mind, the hope would be to be finished by the end of the year, adding this sort of thing can't be rushed.

Hegedus pointed out, while this is new in the city of Centerville, it's not unusual.

He said he'd be surprised if there's another city or department the size of Centerville that is not represented.

Hegedus says so far there have been two negotiating sessions and the two sides are making progress. The next session is set for Nov. 8.

We are working to reach out to the city of Centerville and the Centerville Police Department for a comment.

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