The Ironton City Council adopted a resolution Thursday that allows Ironton Municipal Court Judge O. Clark Collins to move $20,000 from his probation fund to the general fund to pay for raises for his non-union employees who are now required to pay 7.5 percent of their retirement pickup.

The vote on the matter was 5-2, with councilmen Dave Frazer and Kevin Waldo voting against the resolution and Aaron Bollinger, Bob Cleary, Philip Heald, Mike Lutz and Beth Rist voting in favor of the resolution.

Frazer said his vote against the measure was about fairness.

“What about the non-union people? They’re taking the cuts. Are we going to give money back to them?” he asked.

The matter was brought up late last month when Collins court ordered the money; a discussion ensued about whether council had to obey the court order. The legal opinion was they did. But the matter was tabled nonetheless until Cleary asked it to be brought off the table Thursday.

Earlier this year city council agreed to require non-union employees to begin paying 7.5 percent of the retirement pickup. Their intent was that union employees would follow suit.

Thus far, the firefighters union has agreed to pay 3 percent of the seven percent mandate and made cuts to each firefighter’s uniform and food allowance to make up the difference. Neither the police nor the public works unions have agreed to the pickup change.