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UPCOMING POLICEPAY.NET
SEMINAR’S CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS -
May 1st
Los Angeles Area CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS - May 3rd San Francisco Area
City
contract offer to police includes switch to Florida Retirement System FOP rejects offer, says proposal a step backward From
the The City of Specifically, the offer calls for officers hired
on Oct. 1, 2007 and going forward to be enrolled in the FRS, no wage increase
or pension contribution in the 05-06 fiscal year and a 7 percent pension
contribution coupled with a 5 percent wage increase for all officers and up
to a 3 percent additional wage increase for field training officers, SWAT
members and underwater recovery officers in the 06-07 fiscal year. The Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 7, leadership flatly rejected the offer because it said that
the city brought the deal to the table without any background information to
justify the switch the state retirement system. “By switching to the FRS what is the anticipated
cost savings?” asked Mark Richard, the police union’s lawyer. Jim Crosland, the city’s lawyer, said that they
did not have specific numbers to go along with the proposal regarding how
much anticipated monies would be saved by the city. Still, he said that pension programs were a
national issue and one that needed to be addressed by the city sooner rather
than later. “Something has to be done with the pension. That
is the clear desire of the City Commission,” Crosland said. He added that
switching to the state retirement system represented the least intrusive
measure to “get the ship right.” Margorie Adler, the city’s lead
negotiator, said the city would provide some of the requested background
information at a later date. Richard was not convinced. “We understand that you think this saves the city
money but where is the documentation,” Richard asked. FOP President Eugene Gibbons was equally
confused. “There is no cost analysis, study or plan for us
to look at – nothing for us to say the city is going to save this amount,” he
said. “How do you even know the switch is going to save the city money if it
was never costed out?” He went on to say that the police union was only
one of three unions in the city and wondered aloud whether the city would try
such a drastic move with the other two, or if they even could. “They are part of the pension problem as well
(but) we seem to be singled out,” Gibbons said. Just as importantly, and perhaps even more so,
the union leadership said that by joining the FRS, police officers would have
to give up coveted “Chapter 185 funds” which provide an ongoing revenue
stream from which police pay for many additional retirement benefits. “If we were to accept the deal the money from the
185 fund would eventually extinguish. It’s like giving away money with no
strings attached – it’s like the city taking a match to $2 million plus
dollars and igniting it,” Gibbons said. “It hurts these officers that the city would be
willing to take (up to) $3 million and give it back for free,” Richard said. Chapter 185 of Florida Statutes was created in
1953 to provide incentive to cities to establish retirement plans covering
police officers. The chapter mirrors Chapter 175 funds which provide the same
benefits to firefighters. The city’s current contract with its firefighter
union has no mention of a move to the FRS and actually prohibits any action which
would be detrimental to its 175 funds in a pension re-opener scheduled in the
future. Gibbons said a move to the FRS would hurt the
city’s abilities to recruit new officers. The union membership also argued that
creating differences in the pension and retirement systems between active
police officers, the ones who would be forced to join the FRS and the current
officers in the city program, could be troublesome for morale. “We appreciate the city coming back to the
bargaining table with us today but we were hoping to have something more
palatable – I am extremely disappointed,” Gibbons said. Richard said that the offer was a step backward
but did not discount the possibility of more meetings before the two sides
were forced to go before a special hearing magistrate to settle the impasse. The city and union had scheduled the impasse
hearing for March 15 but Gibbons said that a scheduling conflict had
indefinitely postponed that meeting and he said the union was more than
willing to meet again over the issue. When, and if they, do, Gibbons said he hopes that
the city would bring the proper background information for any new deal or
provisions. “The big thing is that they come to us with this
FRS thing and they have not done any research to find out whether it will in
fact save the city money and how much,” he said. “It shows that the city is
not prepared and working whimsically. Nobody has done their homework and we
are talking about taxpayers’ money.” Wage contract for police
will undergo mediation From
The Steve
Bukaty, the police union's labor attorney, said
both sides were close to agreeing on the union's offer of a 13 percent wage
increase over three years. But
the city offered 8 percent, he said, and the union rejected it. It
will take three to four weeks to meet with a mediator, he said. The
city's offer included a 2 percent raise starting July 1, a 4 percent raise in
July 2008 and a 2 percent raise in 2009. The
union had proposed a 4 percent raise retroactive to December when its
contract expired, followed by 4.5 percent each of the following two years. "We
tried like hell these past few days to roll up our sleeves and make a deal,
but what do you do after getting slapped in the face?" Bukaty said. Carl
Gallagher, the city's labor consultant from "The
question was whether the city could pay the freight on the offer,"
Gallagher said. "We tried." Bukaty said the union will take its case to the public
with four billboards that will go up Monday. City
Council member Jim Skelton said it is important for both the city and the
union to resolve the issue. "What
I want to do is find a way to build better relationships. We need to get a
solution here, in my opinion, as soon as possible -- try to get to bottom of
this," he said. "This whole thing, the longer this goes on, the
more my head aches." Sheriff, deputies near
impasse They
reject his contract proposal, which doesn't provide for key issues like gap
health insurance and discipline appeal. From
the He
made an offer and said it was final. They
rejected it by a vote of 168-3. Now
Sheriff Bob White is a day away from becoming one of the first sheriffs in Why
don't they like his proposed contract? It
doesn't let them appeal to an outside arbitrator when they've been
disciplined. It
provides no health insurance to cover the gap between retirement and
Medicare. And
it says that instead of sending notices to agency inboxes, union officials
must post them on a glass-encased bulletin board. The
deputies are merely asking for benefits their counterparts in other agencies
already have, according to union negotiator Paul Noeske
of the Fraternal Order of Police. A St. Petersburg Times
policy review of three neighboring sheriff's offices shows he is partially
correct. Deputies
in Pinellas and Hernando counties do get gap health coverage and the use of
agency mailboxes for union mail. But Hillsborough deputies do not. On
the issue of discipline appeal, each agency has slightly different practices.
Hernando and Pinellas have citizen review boards, while Hillsborough has
internal committees that hear appeals and make recommendations. But
Hillsborough and Hernando have no clear mechanism by which deputies can
appeal discipline to an outside professional arbitrator, which is what If
the union declares an impasse, it would be only the second in the state in
the four years since the Supreme Court gave deputies collective-bargaining
rights, said Matt Puckett, deputy executive director of the Florida Police
Benevolent Association. It's
hard to say what White will do next. He has declined repeated requests for
interviews on the issue. Spokesman Kevin Doll said White doesn't want to
debate the situation in the media. Union
negotiators have informed him of the vote and asked him to respond by Friday.
If he doesn't make another offer, they might plead their case on billboards
and in letters to business leaders. They could even take part in something
known as informational picketing, which generally involves marching and
sign-waving. It
does not mean they would go on strike. An
outside arbitrator could be called in to review the disputed items and make a
recommendation. The final decision on the contract would still rest with
White. Patrolmen's union files
for contract arbitration From
the The
union representing Police
Sgt. YC council hikes police pay From
the Appeal-Democrat, March 7, 2007
Petition calls for
arbitration referendum From
the Monitor, March 6, 2007
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