YOUNGSTOWN — City council has approved contracts with three employee unions, including two that agreed to delay pay increases until 2022 because of the city’s uncertain financial future as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Council agreed to contracts Wednesday with the unions, which all approved the deals earlier.

The language in contracts with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2726, which represents 83 employees in the water department, and AFSCME Local 2312, which represents 61 city hall and health department employees, reads: “The delayed adjustments allow the city to better analyze its financial health in 2021 and react to the ever-evolving COVID-19 pandemic.”

The contract with the water employees calls for no pay increase in 2020 or 2021 with a 3.5 percent increase in January 2022.

That is equivalent to the 1.5 percent raises other unions received this year, 1 percent that other unions are to receive in 2021 and 1 percent in 2022. Unions that have contracts with the city for 2022 include 1 percent increases that year.

“It’s going to help the water fund end the year in the black,” said Kyle Miasek, interim finance director. “There is so much uncertainty with collections for water bills. This strengthens the water fund. The union appreciated they’d get their raises, but it would be postponed.”

The AFSCME 2312 contract includes no pay raise in 2021 and a 2 percent raise in 2022 — 1 percent for that year and 1 percent for 2021. The union’s contract runs through Sept. 30, 2023, with a 1 percent raise at the beginning of that year.

“We requested they consider postponing, and they worked well with us and agreed,” Miasek said.

Council also approved a three-year contract Wednesday with its 42-member ranking police officers union.

The contract calls for a 1.5 percent raise for this year, a 1 percent raise in 2021 and a 1 percent raise in 2022.

The union didn’t defer pay raises for 2020 and 2021 because its members’ salaries are tied to the patrol union members, and the city already had a deal in place with ranking officers months ago.

Detective sergeants get 15 percent more than senior patrol officers, lieutenants are paid 15 percent more than detective sergeants and captains get 15 percent more than lieutenants.

“We were only negotiating for 2022,” said Detective Sgt. Michael Cox, the union’s president. “We have a 15 percent pay difference. We weren’t going to reduce that.”

The ranking police union voted 23 to 6 in favor of the contract with the remaining members not voting, Cox said.

Council rejected a fact-finder’s report with the police union July 31 — with the same pay increases — because of a change in handling grievances and arbitrations.

Neither side objected to the pay amounts.

“We already offered it, and they would have received it if they didn’t push for fact-finding,” Miasek said.

Under the old contract, if there was the need for arbitration or settling a grievance, each side got a list of nine candidates from the state and could eliminate as many names as they chose. If an arbitrator couldn’t be chosen, the two sides went to a second list with the same policy. There was no limit on how many lists and how many times this could have been done.

Robert G. Stein, the fact-finder, recommended allowing the existing process to remain for the first list. But for a second list, each side would take turns striking a name until one person was left and would be selected as the arbitrator.

The city objected to that.

The new contract allows the existing process to remain for the first two rounds and then go to the list of nine names taking turns striking until one remains or permits the two sides to agree beforehand to pick a name on the list.

“The adjustment to arbitration was language that our labor representative felt was good for both parties,” Cox said.