NBC News is reporting that the City of Detroit’s Bankruptcy filing has taken another big step forward. Bankruptcy lawyers for both the debtor, City of Detroit, and the unions had tentatively agreed on a deal that both sides felt comfortable proposing to the bankruptcy court.
The bankruptcy lawyers for each side met with a mediator that was employed for the case. Now the bankruptcy lawyers for both sides will have to demonstrate to the bankruptcy court the benefit of the deal that would include a new collective bargaining agreement.
Detroit has reached a tentative deal with unions that represent thousands of employees in the bankrupt city.
Court-appointed mediators said Monday that Detroit and a coalition of 14 city employee unions have reached a tentative deal on five-year collective bargaining agreements.
The agreement in principle covers the major aspects of labor contracts with the city’s largest union, AFSCME, and 13 other bargaining units, said the mediators, who were appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge overseeing Detroit’s historic municipal bankruptcy.
Once the pacts are finalized and ratified by union members, the terms will be included in the city’s plan of adjustment, which must be approved by the bankruptcy court, the mediators said in a written statement. Terms of the deal, which covers 3,500 workers, were not released and will be made public once the contracts are ratified.
Detroit hopes to exit bankruptcy by the fall, but the city’s plan first must face a series of court hearings this summer before Judge Steven Rhodes.
NBC News: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/detroit-bankruptcy-deal-takes-another-step-forward-n91341
