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.
