Lewiston and police union agree to new contract

LEWISTON — The era of green police T-shirts came to an end Thursday as the Lewiston police union approved a contract with the city.

The deal was struck late Thursday afternoon and was to go into effect at 11 p.m.

Union President Corey Jacques, a detective with the department, said police officers will pack up the green T-shirts they had been wearing since the start of the month as a protest against stalled negotiations with the city.

Details of the settlement were not known Thursday night, although the union had expressed frustrations about low pay, which they said makes it difficult to lure qualified candidates to the department.

The city had been in negotiations with the union since the end of last year, and police had been working without a contract since late June.

At the start of August, the police union announced that its officers would go out on patrol in green T-shirts as long as they remained without a contract. The move represented a violation of the department’s dress policy and city officials warned that they might be forced to take disciplinary action against those officers who wore T-shirts instead of their official uniform tops.

Some officers received oral and written reprimands during the protest, but the contract was approved before any suspensions occurred.

The city and Maine Association of Police, Maine’s largest police union, had been involved in contract mediation via the Maine Labor Relations Board.