Cleveland's police union is launching a fight about overtime pay for cadets, claiming that they are not being compensated for extra hours of work each week.
"They're paying them $10.50 an hour for 80 hours of work in a two-week pay period, 40 hours a week when the reality is that they are working anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day down there," said Steve Loomis, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association. "The city owes them that overtime, and we're going to make sure they get paid."
The union said they have filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor.
But the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which runs the cadet training, said there is no overtime to pay. The highway patrol said they stick to a strict 40 hour a week schedule.
However, the union is demanding that the cadets get paid for extra hours because they have a 10-minute lunch and are required to get up early to stretch and spend the night.
Out of the original 50 cadets who started training in December, 44 remain in class, according to the highway patrol.
Some have dropped out due to injuries. Others left because of stress, according to Loomis.
The City of Cleveland said they paid the cadets overtime for the last half of December but have not paid any more since.
The cadets' Columbus-based training will end in May.
