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2006 OUTLOOK FOR NEGOTIATIONS ORDER
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City police pay plan would give chief 21 pct. raise
From the ST. LOUIS
POST-DISPATCH, January 13, 2006 A proposal by the
St. Louis Police board to change how officers are paid would give Chief Joe
Mokwa a 21 percent raise - bringing him closer to counterparts in some
similar large cities - and favor other top brass while providing more modest
raises for the rank and file. But the mayor's
staff says the city is unlikely to pay for such raises unless the amount it
puts into pensions is reduced. The dramatically
altered pay structure would help the department attract qualified officers
and keep department veterans from leaving for higher-paying jobs, said Maj.
Paul Nocchiero, secretary to the Police Board, who helped develop the
proposal. The starting annual
salary for police officers would increase 8.5 percent, to $38,568. Spread among the
officers in an elaborate table that considers rank and experience, the plan
calls for about $5.4 million in raises. It would trigger
higher pensions, especially for high-ranking officers near the end of their
careers, because retirees get 75 percent of the average of their final two
years' salaries. Although the
top-loaded proposal initially raised eyebrows among the rank and file, some
appear to be coming to embrace it because it would equate their salaries to
those in other cities. "I like it,
personally," said Sgt. Kevin Ahlbrand, president of the St. Louis Police
Officers Association. The association has not said whether it will support
the plan. Over the years, the
separations of pay between ranks in the St. Louis police shrank, Nocchiero
said, because many raises were handed out as fixed sums across the board
instead of as percentages. The new structure would reward those with greater
responsibility, he said. State Sen. Harry
Kennedy, D-St. Louis, said he would introduce the funding package in the
Legislature next week. "They do a
tough job," Kennedy said. "We owe them a just salary." In a system dating
to the Civil War, the St. Louis Police Department is financed by city
taxpayers but controlled by a board of four gubernatorial appointees and the
mayor. Salaries require approval by state lawmakers. Whether city
officials would agree to fund the raises is a bigger question. The Police
Department estimates that the proposal would increase its budget by about 3.9
percent, to $143 million. Mayor Francis Slay, as a member of the Police
Board, voted against the proposal in November. Slay's chief of
staff, Jeff Rainford, said Friday that the mayor's priority was keeping the
department staffed at 1,340 officers. Slay would support
police raises if the department would agree to reduce the city's pension
liability, Rainford said. The city paid $27 million into pension funds this
year, about $8.1 million of that for police, he said. That is what is
recommended by actuaries to keep the fund healthy in coming years. Ahlbrand, the
association president, said the group would not endorse any changes in
pension funding. Nocchiero said the
pay formula was based on comparisons with four local departments - St. Louis
County, Maryland Heights, Florissant and Chesterfield and Kansas City,
Charlotte, Baltimore and Cincinnati. The big cities were chosen because their
police forces are similar to St. Louis' in size and structure and because the
cities enjoy a similar cost of living. The raise would move
Mokwa into a range similar to the compensation for chiefs in St. Louis County
and big cities such as Baltimore and Kansas City. Under the proposal, Mokwa
would be paid $122,012. The chief in Kansas City gets $125,000, and in
Baltimore is paid $162,000. St. Louis County sets a range for its chief's salary of
between $89,176 and $142,681. Mokwa now is paid a
base salary of $101,070. Under the proposal, the city chief's range,
depending upon experience, would be from $95,054 to $143,597. The St. Louis
assistant chief, Lt. Col. Stephen Pollihan, would get a 26 percent raise to
$108,329. An officer with 10 years' experience would get a 9 percent raise,
to $53,252. A sergeant with 13 years on the force would get a 10 percent
raise to $63,013. A lieutenant with 18 years would get a 10 percent raise to
$70,935. Troopers Still Working Without A
Contract
Officers Unable To Strike
From AP, January 15, 2006 MADISON, Wis. -- After
three years of contract negotiations some law enforcement officers are still
working without a contract. The situation is causing some officers to
consider leaving for other positions. The Wisconsin Law Enforcement Association, or
WLEA, represents the state patrol, Capitol police and officers at the
University of Wisconsin. Unable to strike, officers have been locked in
negotiations since 2003 for their 2003 to 2005 contract. Now, many are staying they can't afford to wait
for what they call a good contract. Roughly 130 UW officers and capitol police and
more than 400 state patrol employees are working without a contract. Trooper Mark Samborski said over the past 5 years
he's only received a raise of $1.20. Currently, Samborski makes $17.28 an hour.
"It makes you unhappy in your job,
unappreciated, and that they don't care enough to not give you a decent
salary," Samborski. The thought of working without a contract and
without built-in raises has some officers like Jeff Berkley considering leaving.
"I really like what I'm doing, but to stay
here with the patrol is tough because you're not getting compensated,"
said Trooper Jeff Berkley. "It seems like there's no end in sight and
it's going to stay that way forever." Union representatives say from 2003 to 2006, 50
troopers and another 20 officers from the UW and Capitol police have left.
Some left for retirement, but the majority because of the pay. A state negotiator working on the contract said,
"These numbers represent a normal turnover rate." He also added,
"We have to be a mid-level employer. Some places pay more, some pay
less. We have to be mindful of taxpayers' money." But for some troopers and their families living
on one salary. They said it's just not enough and decisions must be made. "It's good that they're mindful of
taxpayers' money, and they should be," said Samborski. "I never
expected to make a lot of money. But we've still got to live." The state negotiator said last year was a difficult
year for the state budget and the governor is trying to work with the union. A bargaining session on Friday ended again,
without a contract. No other sessions have been scheduled. State police pay-hike
bill on the horizon
From the Herald, January 17, 2006
CHARLESTOWN, W.Va. - State Sen. John Unger
said he met with Gov. Joe Manchin Monday to discuss developing a three-year
pay raise package for West Virginia State Police. Local officials have pushed to increase
pay for state employees, particularly those living in the Eastern Panhandle,
because of the higher cost of living there. Many state employees have been lured to
higher-paying jobs in other states, leaving agencies like the state police
scrambling to staff shifts. Unger, D-Berkeley/Jefferson, said no
figures have been developed on how much trooper salaries might increase, but
he said the intent is to make the state police the best-paid law enforcement
agency in the state. Currently, state police pay is ranked
about 16th among pay at other law-enforcement agencies in the state, Unger
said. Unger said Manchin was supportive of the
pay raises and would recommend legislation for them. Manchin officials could not be reached
late Monday. Del. Bob Tabb, D-Jefferson, said he had
not heard about the pay raise plan but would support it. KPD contract
negotiations stalled
From Seacoast on-line, January 17, 2006 KENNEBUNK — Contract talks between the Kennebunk Police Department and
Town Hall regarding how much of a contribution KPD employees will make on
their health benefits, and their proposed 3 percent raise, remain stalled. The KPD, who
cannot strike, have been working without a contract since July. Two sessions
of non-binding mediation have failed to resolve the issue. As a gesture of
protest, male KPD officers have been sporting goatees of late; normally,
officers are only allowed to wear small, well-kept mustaches. With the
contract still up in the air, Kennebunk Town Manager Barry Tibbetts has drawn
a line in the sand. Tibbetts said
Monday that “health insurance for this year increased from 47 cents to 63
cents an hour. The problem is that the police union wants the town to absorb
the difference while the town does not.” He says that
the town is willing to extend the 3 percent raise only if the KPD is willing
to up their health benefit contribution from 8 percent to 10 percent. This
increase would mean an additional 16-cents per hour would come out of KPD
paychecks. According to Finance Director Joel Downs, for the
average KPD officer with full family coverage, this bump from 8 to 10 percent
would result in a weekly increase from $18.73 to $25.09; a difference of
$6.36. According to Downs, “all other town employees
with a comparable health insurance contribution, increased to $25.09 per
week.” This roughly $100 monthly contribution goes
toward a family health plan that, in 2005, came at a cost to the town of
$1,087 per month. The Maine Association of Police, a union that was
established in 1975 to help departments deal with (among other things) labor
negotiations, represents the KPD in their contract matters. The 3 percent pay raise offered to KPD employees
(if they sign the contract) would mean another 56 cents an hour. If the
health pay-in went up from 8 to 10 percent, the KPD would lose about 16 cents
per hour of that 56-cent raise. Detective/Sgt. Robert MacKenzie, a union steward,
says while the department has routinely seen 2 to 3 percent increases in
their yearly salary, it just isn’t enough to keep up with the cost of living.
“And now to be asked to pay more for our health
care — it’s just too much,” MacKenzie says. According to Tibbetts, employees of Kennebunk’s
police department made no contribution to their health benefits for many
years. Then a three-year contract was drawn up with KPD employees paying in a
fixed rate. The next three-year contract called for a 6
percent pay-in the first year, an 8 percent the second year, and 10 percent
the third, with no cap. While the KPD and its union agreed to the first
two years, they wanted a cap on the dollar amount for the third year. When
that third year began in July of 2005, negotiations between the department
and the town re-opened. Tibbetts says he feels that the 8 percent to 10
percent increase “is not nearly as significant as what the private sector has
had to absorb, and is in line with other municipalities.” Tibbetts also points to Maine towns of similar
size with similar monthly premiums for families. Like Kennebunk, in both Falmouth and Gorham, the
split has the town paying 90 percent, the employee paying 10. Other towns
utilize a wider gap: York has an 85-15 split; Kittery and Cape Elizabeth both
go 80-20 with employees; and Freeport expects their employees to carry 25
percent of the cost burden. MacKenzie says that while other town employees
are seeing a similar contribution increase, police do work the oddest of
hours (midnight shifts, holidays, etc.) in town and undergo a large amount of
training every year. “In our profession – it’s not just a job
anymore,” MacKenzie says. “The demands are higher and higher each year. And
we don’t feel we’re being compensated for that.” MacKenzie says the department will soon be
hearing from their MAP rep with his take on the numbers. Tibbetts said should the two groups be unable to
reach an agreement, they’d move to a fact-finding session with the Maine
Labor Relations Board. If that failed, non-binding arbitration would follow. Agency rules on Grafton contract
Village must negotiate
with police union despite missed deadline
From
the Journal Sentinel, January 16, 2006
Grafton - The village must begin negotiating a
two-year contract with the union representing Grafton police officers and sergeants
even though the union missed the deadline to begin negotiations, the
Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission has ruled. The
commission found in a ruling filed last week that the village's contract with
the police officers, covering 2004 and 2005, did not expressly state a
consequence if the union failed to meet a Sept. 1 deadline to begin
negotiations. "Nothing
in this record requires the conclusion that the parties intended the
relatively drastic consequence of an automatic renewal without negotiations,"
the commission wrote. Village
Administrator Darrell Hofland had said the current contract required the
union to have asked by Sept. 1 for new contract negotiations. The union did
not do so until Sept. 13. The
union, the Labor Association of Wisconsin, was involved in an election in
early September involving which union would represent the 16 Grafton officers
and sergeants. A competing union, the Wisconsin Professional Police
Association, had filed a petition asking that it represent the employees. The
Labor Association of Wisconsin won the election to continue representing
Grafton police officers on Sept. 6. The
relations commission said that as of Sept. 1, "a cloud of
uncertainty" prevailed over which union would represent the police
officers and beginning negotiations "could have been a meaningless
act." In
addition, the union "promptly demanded to reopen negotiations" when
its status as bargaining agent was resolved, the commission concluded. Eastern Adams police have a contract
From the Evening Sun Reporter, January 19, 2006
The Eastern Adams Regional Police Commission
Wednesday accepted a new police contract hashed out between the commission
and the union's attorneys without a third-party arbitrator. After the meeting, Jim Eisenhart, vice chairman
of the commission and mayor of New Oxford, said the costs of wages and
benefits will go up 20 percent in the first year. But he said the increase will not raise
dramatically the overall cost of operating the department. The police commission fired Chief Joe Dougherty
in November. And since there are no plans to fill the position in the near
future, Eisenhart said the new contract is close to what the commission
projected in its tentative 2006 budget. That budget essentially revamped 2005
numbers to exclude a chief's salary and add cost-of-living increases for
officers. Newly appointed commission member Fred Nugent
said Sgt. Mike Trostel will continue to handle everyday operations. The
commission will handle administrative tasks. The regional force has been working without a
contract since Jan. 1. Negotiations began in May 2005 and were tense at
times. The parties disagreed over certain items and two of the three
municipalities the force serves voted to disband the force. Nugent said the new four-year contract includes
wage increases of 3 percent in the first two years and a 4-percent increase
for the final two years. The police union initially asked for a three-year
contract with a 5-percent increase each year. Under the old contract, an
entry-level officer earned about $44,000 a year. In addition, the union asked for a 1-percent
annual increase starting after an officer's fourth year on the force under
longevity pay. Under the contract, a police officer will instead get a
0.25-percent increase annually after the fourth year. Angela Chronister, an Oxford Township resident
was one of the few at the meeting who wasn't a police officer or municipal
official. She said she hopes this will be the last of the negotiations. "I'm glad (the commission) is ready to
have the contract signed," she said. Bill McMaster, chairman of the Oxford Township
Board of Supervisors, said he's glad the region still has a department. "We're ready to move forward and have it
work the way it's supposed to," he said. The contract is a compromise that removes
several sticking points, Nugent said. It eliminates a police union proposal
that officers have their health care paid until they're eligible for
Medicare. Police union president Randy Reichert said the
union didn't expect its initial offer would be approved, noting they aimed
high. But a counteroffer wasn't immediately returned and the commission
instead placed negotiations in the hands of attorneys. Earle Black, a commission alternate and a
Berwick Township supervisor, said he thinks the contract is fair to both
sides and everyone can move on. The commissioners didn't release the final cost
of the new contract. Commission chairman Mike Noel said it was impossible to
quote a price because Berwick Township hasn't approved the 2006 police
budget. New Oxford Borough and Oxford Township have approved police budgets
for 2006, Noel said. After Berwick decides how much it will
allocate, the police commission can prepare a new 2006 budget with the money
it knows is available, Eisenhart said. The commission plans to meet Wednesday for a
workshop and begin retooling the budget. |
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