The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) and the Fraternal Order of Police - Ohio Labor Council (FOP - OLC) agreed on a new labor contract, which RTA's board of trustees approved on Tuesday.

The new contract, which was ratified nearly unanimously by FOP members, is effective through Feb. 28, 2014.

New provisions of the contract include a wage freeze from March 2010 to September 2011, with a 1.75 percent wage increase in September 2011, based on RTA's actual increases in revenues from passenger fares and sales tax during 2010. Starting in March 2012 and March 2013, wage adjustments, if any, will be based on actual increases in RTA passenger and sales tax revenues for the previous year, with a cap of 3 percent. If RTA doesn't see an increase in these revenues, there will be no increase in wages.

"RTA is excited to make this agreement that ties a wage increase, if any, to RTA's ability to pay those increases. This is the only way to assure that if RTA's services to the public are stable or growing," said RTA's CEO/GM Joe Calabrese. "Additionally, tying in financial incentives to encourage healthy employees is a growing trend in many businesses around the world, benefiting both employee and employer in the long run."

There are 104 active FOP members working for RTA, which is the smaller of RTA's two unions. There is still no new labor agreement with the Amalgamated Transit Union, which is the larger union at RTA. Negotiations have been ongoing for the last two years.