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POWER, INFLUENCE & PERSUASION POLICE CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY OCTOBER 25 & 26, 2007
POLICEPAY.NET
SERVICES (Click on service name for information and pricing) Pay raises
seem to be guaranteed passage From the Times, May 10, 2007
Gov. Kathleen Blanco
also supports the salary boost. City reaches contract agreements with fire and police unions From the Mid-Hudson News, May 1, 2007 Late Monday afternoon, leaders of "These are good contracts that provide well deserved raises
for our men and women in uniform -- fair raises that the taxpayers of City, police still far apart on new labor contract More than four months after the
previous contract expired, the city of The pact between the city and the
Santa Maria Police Officers Association - covering the 134 union members for
one year - expired Dec. 22. No one involved with the talks would
speak directly to the issues holding up the agreement, but sources who spoke
only on condition of anonymity have indicated there is disagreement over both
pay levels and benefits. “This is the longest a bargaining
unit in the city has gone without a contract in anyone's recent memory,” said
Assistant City Manager Rick Haydon, who represents
the city in contract discussions. Jeffrey Monical,
a communication specialist brought in to work with the union, acknowledged
the POA is working without a contract and members are frustrated with talks. “The list of what they (the officers)
can do is limited, and it puts those who want to provide quality public
safety at a disadvantage,” Monical said, adding
that the negotiating team is soliciting input from the rank and file on what
to do next. Haydon said the city presented a proposal and the union has “had that
for a couple weeks.” “We are hopeful that they will give
it much consideration and we can get a ratified contract soon,” he said. However, he noted that the city is
waiting for the union's response, and no meetings are scheduled between the
two sides. Once a contract expires, employees
essentially work under the old terms until the new agreement is reached, Haydon said. He noted that some aspects of the contract
sunset, or end, with the document's expiration and must be renegotiated. The POA represents the department's
non-sworn personnel, such as dispatchers, as well as sworn officers up to the
rank of commander. The two commanders and the chief are not included. Last year's contract included an
8-percent pay raise for sworn officers and a 5-percent increase for non-sworn
personnel. According to the city, base salaries
for officers in the department average $71,030. When overtime pay and health
and retirement benefits are added, the total increases to just more than
$119,000. The pay scale goes up with rank. Over the last four years - between
2003 and 2006 - members of the POA have received a total of 26.9 percent in
salary increases, according to the city. In the same period, the city's
managers received increases totaling 13.5 percent, while employees
represented by the Service Employees Union International union received 12.5
percent. This is not the first difficulty the
union has had with city management. Last spring, the POA surveyed its members
on their feelings regarding morale and other work-related issues. The union claims that low morale and
a deteriorating work environment are making it harder to attract and retain
quality officers, which in turn could affect public safety. Union officials have painted the
department as an environment of patronage and favoritism by the chief and
city management. However, according to the city, there
are only eight vacancies in the department, which has 112 budgeted sworn positions. Police Chief Danny Macagni said he is meeting regularly with the POA board
to discuss issues with department operations and he sees the relationship
getting better. In the past, he said, no one had ever
mentioned an epidemic of low morale to him. Proposal tilts toward those with
experience From the Times Picayune , May 03, 2007 The increases, which could take effect in a few months, would be
in addition to 10 percent across-the-board raises that police and most other
city workers received last fall. The pay plan, designed to aid recruiting and halt the exodus of
veteran officers to other departments, also calls for paying bonuses to
officers with college degrees and to those serving in special units such as
the bomb squad, canine squad, mounted patrol unit, narcotics unit and
tactical unit. The proposed pay plan, which would need approval by the city's
Civil Service Commission and the council to take effect, would award the
largest raises, just over 33 percent, to captains. Other proposed raises are
as follows: 28 percent for majors, 25 percent for lieutenants, 22 percent for
sergeants and police officers IV, and just under 10.5 percent for recruits
and police officers I through III. The raises do not affect state supplemental pay and the pay that
officers get from a special property tax millage.
Those sources add about $5,000 to each officer's pay, though recruits get
only about $1,400. The four grades of police officer are seniority levels. Officers
attain promotion to higher levels through a combination of years on the job
and test results. Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Cary Grant said the
NOPD will make such promotions twice a year, which is much more frequent than
in the past. The new pay levels were crafted to match the salaries offered in
competing departments, with the largest raises going to the higher ranks in
an effort to keep veteran officers from retiring early or taking their years
of experience to other jurisdictions. The proposals were worked out during months of meetings
involving Grant, Budget Committee Chairwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, Civil
Service Director Lisa Hudson and others. Despite the 10 percent raises police received last fall,
Hedge-Morrell said the city must again increase basic salaries and offer
special incentives if it is to "maintain a strong police
department." A study released in March by the RAND Corp. said higher
salaries, more frequent promotions and a proactive recruiting effort are
needed to halt the city's hemorrhaging of police officers. The study
recommended the NOPD scale back retirement benefits and boost salaries early
in officers' careers. Hundreds have left Hundreds of officers have left the force since Hurricane
Katrina, meaning the department's overall strength has declined despite
continuing efforts to sign up new recruits. For the year's first three months, the department paid $2.6
million in terminal leave to retiring or departing employees, more than 42
percent of the total for all city departments. "We can't compete with other (police) departments,"
Superintendent Warren Riley said in March. The commission could vote on the proposals at those meetings or
defer action. It needs to endorse the changes before the council can vote to
make them official. Support on council Comments from council members at Wednesday's Budget Committee
meeting indicated the proposals are likely to enjoy strong support from the
council. Councilman Arnie Fielkow
said he considered the proposals "fiscally sound." Councilwoman Stacy Head warned, however, that the council
intends to hold police officers to higher standards in areas such as treating
residents with respect, writing reports in a timely manner and presenting
effective testimony at trials. The proposed educational incentives would pay officers an extra
$3,000 a year if they have a graduate degree, $2,000 a year for a bachelor's
degree and $1,000 a year for an associate degree. An estimated 28 officers
have graduate degrees, 117 have bachelor's degrees and 40 have associate degrees.
The proposed premiums for special assignments would pay officers
an extra $1,500 a year for serving with a number of special units, though how
many units remains uncertain. Extra pay at some units The special committee had proposed making members of about a
dozen units eligible for extra pay, but a copy of the proposals obtained by
The Times-Picayune indicates that some assignments, such as homicide
detectives and members of the rape and child abuse units, may be dropped from
the list. Hedge-Morrell said the city has enough money to pay the higher
salaries and the other special bonuses this year out of the Police
Department's already approved budget. Because the department is far below its authorized strength, it
has millions of dollars available to spend. It spent nearly $1.5 million less
than budgeted for the year's first three months, even though that period
included Carnival. The department's 2007 budget authorized it to have about 1,850
full-time personnel, including commissioned officers and civilian workers.
Department spokesman Sgt. Joe Narcisse said
Wednesday that the NOPD has about 1,422 officers on the payroll, including
about 1,280 "on the streets," and 259 civilian employees. There
were 450 such employees before Hurricane Katrina. Other department sources have said that when officers on sick
leave or otherwise unavailable for duty are subtracted, the department can
muster fewer than 1,000 commissioned officers. The special committee that proposed the higher salaries and special
bonuses also suggested giving police officers the same longevity raises that
the Legislature authorized for firefighters many years ago. Under current longevity pay rules, police and most other city
workers receive a 2.5 percent raise their first year and then every fifth
year. The committee's proposal would give police a 2 percent raise each year
from their third through 23rd years, meaning their pay would increase about
four times as fast as that of other workers. Hedge-Morrell said consideration of that proposal will be
deferred for the moment because the city can't afford it, but that she hopes
to implement it by next year. City administrations, including that of Mayor Ray Nagin, have fought implementation of the state-ordered
annual longevity raises for firefighters for many years, but the courts have
consistently ruled in favor of the firefighters. Hedge-Morrell said that even though her special committee has
finished its work on police pay, it will continue to meet, looking at ways to
increase all city workers' pay. From WCCO, April 27, 2007 (AP) In late March, rank-and-file members turned
down a tentative agreement negotiated by union leaders and Mayor Herb Bergson's administration. The union and city last met April 3, said
Sgt. Jon Haataja, president of the Steve Hoffmeyer,
deputy commissioner of the BMS, said he expects a decision in the case before
midsummer. Still unresolved are proposed wage
increases and changes to employee and retiree health care benefits, both
sides said. The latter issue has taken on greater importance considering the
city's $309 million retiree health care liability. Bergson wrote in an e-mail Thursday that he is hopeful an
agreement can be reached without arbitration. Police union,
city reach impasse in labor talks From the The Lompoc Police Officer's Association and the city have
reached impasse in labor negotiations and expect mediation to begin soon,
focusing primarily on salary levels. No date has been set. “Basically, the city and police parties are hopelessly
deadlocked,” said Dale Strobridge, When the parties reached impasse, the city had offered an
across-the-board average pay raise of 6 percent. The union's “last, best and final offer,” was a 14.68 percent
increase for police officers, 16.38 percent for dispatchers and 19.78 percent
for community service officers. Based on the union salary surveys of area police agencies, those
increases would have put To bring the City chief negotiator Bill Yanonis
said the union surveys put He said the city's survey put police officers at 12.8 percent
below the average salary, police sergeants at 11.6 percent below the average
salary and jailers at 11.72 percent below the average salary. “We do think we have a good wage and benefit package, seeing as
we don't have the tax base of “We've offered a 6 percent increase,” he said. “We want to do
our best and treat our employees fairly in what we can afford. It's not a bad
benefit package for the area. We want to do better. “Other areas can afford more. We also don't believe we that far
behind based on our numbers.” |
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