New Wisconsin trooper contract calls for 3 percent raises

(AP) — Gov. Scott Walker's administration and the state troopers' union have negotiated a new contract that calls for higher insurance premiums in exchange for a pair of raises paid through back wages.

The contract moves closer to what Republican legislative leaders wanted when they rejected a plan for a 17 percent average pay raise in March.

Glen Jones, head of the union's negotiating team, said the association had to be realistic since legislators are struggling to find ways to fund DOT road projects in the 2015-17 state budget.

State troopers were exempted from Walker's 2011 law that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers over everything except pay raises to account for inflation.