COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Negotiations with the union representing Branch County 911 operators are now scheduled to take place February 1, 2017. That announcement was made at Tuesday’s Branch County Board of Commissioners meeting by commissioner Terri Norris.
The dispatchers are represented by the Police Officers Association of Michigan and have been working without a contract for over a year.
They expressed their unhappiness last month with the previous Board of Commissioners and County Administrator Bud Norman because they felt they were being “strong armed” into signing a contract that would increase by three times what they would have to pay for insurance premiums.
Meanwhile, commissioner Leonard Kolcz said he will have a report on meetings with Sheriff John Pollack at the Commissioners next work session January 19. Pollack is hoping his department’s staffing levels will improve following the 2013 layoff of road patrol deputies due to budget cuts.
