BLOOMINGTON - City workers will not go on strike Monday. On Friday, the city of Bloomington and Laborers' Local 362 issued a joint statement saying the two had reached an agreement on the contracts for the city's support staff and parking attendants.

Union and city officials said they are relieved the action averts a strike by nearly 40 employees.

An agreement to create a health insurance committee brought the two sides together, said David Penn, Local 362 business manager.

Employees voted unanimously to ratify the contracts, Penn said after the vote Friday. The Bloomington City Council previously voted in March to implement the terms of what it called its "last best offer" to the union after talks stalled.

John Penn, Midwest regional manager and vice president for Laborers' International, and City Manager Tom Hamilton agreed to create and co-chair a committee intended to help the city and its employees find ways to lower health-care costs. That move brought the contract negotiations to a close.

"Health insurance costs are out of control," David Penn said. "It has been the driving force behind everything we negotiate, so let's pool our resources together and cage this beast."

Bloomington Human Resource Director Emily Bell said the committee will be a benefit for all city employees.

David Penn and Bell said all the unions that represent city employees will be included in the insurance committee.

"We are looking at controlling health insurance costs for all of our employees, so we are very willing for all of the groups to come to the table and help us with this," Bell said.

There are about 850 city employees.

Shorter contract

Other changes to the agreements implemented by the city earlier this spring are minor, Bell said.

For the support staff, the contract goes from a three-year deal to a two-year deal. The parking attendants already have been working under a two-year contract, and that will remain the same.

The contracts are retroactive to April 30, 2007, and will expire April 30, 2009.

The two sides agreed to limit the contracts to two years so the insurance committee will have a chance to get some results by next year, David Penn said.

"People like working for the city, and this is not a matter of not trusting them, but it is a matter of the health insurance," David Penn added. "We would like to have a contract for a longer term."

Although the city already had implemented most of the contract terms, including a $200 bonus, Bell said employees covered by the contracts will receive an additional $100 bonus.