Teamsters Local 700 members at the University Park Police Department overwhelmingly approved a new four-year contract this month, but not before finally securing a long-delayed retroactive pay increase that will mean thousands of dollars for each member.

As the bargaining unit headed into contract negotiations, Business Agent Rosalind Tennent demanded an independent audit of the pay increases the unit was supposed to receive based on its previous contract.

“We have been arguing for years that these members were not getting paid what they were due,” said Tennent. “We were not going to move forward with a new contract until every single member was made whole, and that’s exactly what we did.”

An independent audit of the previous contract and each member’s pay showed a significant pay gap, totalling several thousand dollars of retroactive pay owed to each member. That pay will now be delivered to the Local 700 members as the new contract takes effect.

“Not only are these members getting thousands of dollars in back pay, they are also getting significant new wage increases in their new contract,” said Tennent. “This is a great reminder that your union will never stop fighting for its members, no matter how long it has been.”

The new contract, overwhelmingly approved by the University Park Police Department membership, is a four year agreement that includes wage increases every year. It is due to go into effect immediately.