Court-appointed mediators said yesterday that Detroit and a coalition of 14 city employee unions have reached a tentative deal on five-year collective bargaining agreements, Reuters reported yesterday. The agreement in principle covers the major aspects of labor contracts with the city's largest union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and 13 other bargaining units, said the mediators, who were appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge overseeing Detroit's historic municipal bankruptcy. Kevyn Orr, the city's state-appointed emergency manager, has been reaching many deals this month with key creditors, including Detroit's two retirement systems and three bond insurance companies, giving him critical support for his blueprint for the city's emergence from bankruptcy. Once the union 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.
