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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) Failure to separate
the issues into two categories, monetary and non-monetary, bogs down
negotiations, alienates the chief, and usually results in non-monetary items
being sent to the ash heap.
Talking to the city’s negotiating team about non-monetary items
is counterproductive. They do not
understand nor care about such issues.
They simply take them back to the administrator who gives them to the
chief, who then rips them to shreds and tosses them into the trash can. Anything that involves the operations of
the police department has to be negotiated with the chief. The city management does not care how
discipline, terminations and promotions are handled. That’s what they pay the chief to deal
with. Only go to the negotiating table
with non-monetary items that have been negotiated with and agreed to by the
chief, not for discussion, but just for the purpose of having them added to
the contract. Management will take the
chief’s recommendation. For a further explanation of this and many other negotiating tips, plan to order The Police Negotiator's Handbook, POLICEPAY's new book, which will be available later this summer. This book is written by Ron York, POLICEPAY.NET president, and is based on nearly forty years of experience with public safety negotiations. Supes give first OK to police pay raise Daly lone nay vote on delayed contract for
25% over 4 years From the
San Francisco Chronicle, June
27, 2007 The San Francisco Board of Supervisors gave
initial approval Tuesday to a contract with city police that will give
officers a 25 percent pay raise over the next four years. The contract had been held up for a week
for an additional hearing, during which supervisors questioned police brass
on officer recruitment and retention initiatives and how the contract serves
to bolster crime fighting in violence-plagued neighborhoods. Last week's delaying of the contract
surprised the Newsom administration and the police union, whose president
accused the supervisors of political grandstanding at the expense of rank-and-file
officers. Supervisor Chris Daly was the lone
dissenter Tuesday, as the contract passed on the first of two readings 10-1. "This measure signals the priorities
of this city to fund law enforcement at the expense of preventative programs.
I think this is not the right message and not the right direction for the
city," Daly said. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi
bristled at the criticism leveled at supervisors for wanting to ask more
questions before voting on the pact. "The fact that we're walking on egg
shells just to get through the very kind of hearing that we had today is
emblematic that we have a long way to go," Mirkarimi
said. "The police need to be trusting of this body if they want us to be
trusting of them." During the earlier committee hearing on the
contract, which took place Tuesday morning before the vote by the full board,
Mirkarimi and Supervisor Bevan
Dufty heard from the city's negotiator and Chief
Heather Fong. Several officers and union representatives
also addressed the supervisors and expressed frustration that the labor
contract might be used by board members to make points about dissatisfaction
with crime-fighting strategies at the department. "Our officers are not responsible for
the increased violence that is plaguing our city. They are not responsible
for the increased homicide rate," said Sgt. Lea Militello,
a member of SFPD's homicide unit. The contract will raise pay an average of 6
percent each year over the course of the contract for 2,600 positions. In addition, the police union agreed to
limit the amount of sick pay officers could convert to cash and to eliminate
overtime pay for police captains. The pact also would lower the number of
hours officers could accrue in comp time. Under the pact, an entry-level The increases are needed to keep pace with
salaries in other Bay Area departments like "The challenges are great, the demands
are great and the sacrifices are great on our officers. I believe we have to
be very competitive with other agencies," Fong said. She said Gary Delagnes,
president of the Police Officers Association, the union that represents
rank-and-file officers, said officers need to be paid well so new recruits
will "come here and deal with the political climate that we deal with on
a daily basis." Commissioners Grant Pay Raises to 347 Deputies And 63 Constables From The raises, which go into effect June 30,
include 7.5% salary increases for 347 sheriff’s office employees, 62
constables, four members of the district attorney’s office, one county
attorney, four fire marshal’s office employees, two environmental officers
and one county road and bridge employee. Also, 36 sheriff’s office
telecommunications officers, sheriff’s office medical officers, a county web
master, a county systems administrator and three human resources employees
received raises of between 7.3% and 17.7%. The salary increases will cost the county
about $408,500 over the remainder of the fiscal year, and will add $1.52
million to the county budget on the expense side in the next fiscal year. “Not everyone at the sheriff’s office gets
a raise,” Precinct 1 Commissioner Tom Stavinoha
cautioned. “Hopefully everyone at the sheriff’s office won’t hammer on us.”
Detectives and other “higher-ups” at the department won’t see the raise, he
added. County Judge Bob Hebert said the salary
increases were proposed by the county Human Resources Department following a
recent study by an independent consultant who was asked to identify
high-turnover jobs in county government where pay was “below market.” Many of those jobs identified in the study
were law enforcement positions. There was no public discussion over five jobs
– a web master, systems administrator and three human resources
“generalists,” who received salary increases of more than 15%. Hebert said the county had set aside more
than $1 million at the beginning of the fiscal year to cover a possible
salary adjustment. Wayne Hastedt,
president of the Fort Bend County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, said Monday
he believes sheriff’s deputies and other department employees deserve a pay increase,
in part because they have been making considerably less than their
counterparts at nearby city police departments and other law enforcement
agencies. Police, fire
and dispatch contracts signed Town signs three-year contracts with unions From the The three unions received pay increases of 2.5 percent for
fiscal year 2008, based on the consumer price index for urban workers. The total salary and benefits budgets for the three services
total $3,579,150 for fiscal year 2007-08. Voters approved an estimated
increase of about 4 percent for the three services at the May 19 budget
referendum. The negotiations were cordial. "You always have disagreements over things," Town
Manager Rob Yandow said, "but I would
characterize all discussions as professional and amiable." The police contract — an increase of $74,786 — represents the largest impact of the three because the
town employs more police officers than it does firefighters or dispatchers.
The total police budget for salaries and benefits is $2,441,510. The town and police officers negotiated splitting the cost of a
$1,000 study to research the retirement system. Currently, officers must work
25 years and must retire by age 55 to receive a pension. The study would
determine if a 20-year term of service with no age limitation is preferable. The increase in cost of the firefighters
new contract is $10,990 out of a $517,915 salary and benefits budget.
Contract negotiations centered on who was responsible, firefighters or the
town, for ensuring compliance with physical fitness/wellness requirements. The contract with dispatchers will increase $24,022 next fiscal
year. The 2007-08 salary and benefits budget for dispatchers is $619,725. Their negotiations centered on the creation of a "personal
day" category of time off. Dispatchers now must bank 45 sick days to
earn a personal day. With the new policy the town hopes to stop dispatchers
from taking unwarranted sick days, a practice that forces the town to pay
overtime for a replacement to work on a moment's notice. Peterson proposes tax increase to fight crime Indianapolis- Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson proposed raising
county income taxes from one percent to 1.65%. He says the hike is
needed to raise money for his $90 million crime fighting package. Peterson unveiled his plans Wednesday afternoon before several
hundred people, mostly Peterson supporters, at the "We've declared a war against crime and we need more money
to fight it," Peterson told the crowd. He said $30 million would go to funding police and firefighter
pensions, $30 million to continuing new programs like Night Court and fixes
to the criminal justice system, $20 million to other crime fighting measures,
including the hiring of 100 new police officers and $10 million to police and
firefighter contracts. Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi,
a Republican, said he liked what he heard. Brizzi said,
"It's hard to argue with adding police officers, crime prevention and
re-entry programs (for offenders) and additional jail beds." Aaron Sullivan, President of the Fraternal Order of Police
agreed. Sullivan said, "The thing we're really encouraged by is
that we'll finally have a dedicated funding stream to these pension liability
problems that have plagued the city and county for many years." The Fraternal Order of Police has often been odds with
Peterson over the merger and contract issues. Sullivan thought would
support Peterson's plan, especially the hiring of more officers. "I think it's definitely the first step of a better
relationship with the mayor's office," he said. Even Republican challenger Greg Ballard was slow in his
criticism. Ballard said, "I'm glad he's following our
agenda. We've been saying since day one to put more officers on the
streets and he's doing that." When asked if 100 new officers was enough Ballard said,
"what the FBI recommends is 2.5 officers per 1,000 (people). Right
now we're a bit below two percent, so we might need more in the future, but
it's a good half step. What I want to see is the follow through." A lone protester stood in front of the Jim McDermott, who lives nearby said, "I voted for him
first time around. I thought he was a great guy, but he's outta control! He does whatever he wants. He just
increased takes a short while ago. I'm paying more in taxes than I did
in rent 35 years ago." The mayor's call for raising income taxes comes as "This is a clear cut case of if you don't have to do it, we
wouldn't have," he said, "I guess we could have put off (the
decision to raise taxes) for a year but I think that would have been
irresponsible and made the problem worse." The tax hike needs council approval and must be adopted by
August first for taxes to be collected this year. The job of selling the
tax falls to Democratic council president Monroe Gray, whose party holds a
slim majority in an election year. Gray said "it's not an easy task, but once you give people
the facts, let them know how the money will be spent, it's much easier. Scott Keller, the only Republican councilor here said while
planned to vote for the tax increase, he knew some of his colleagues would
not. He also doubted it would become a big campaign issue. "With crime the way it is, I think it's a difficult sell,
but not that difficult," he said. As for the impact on The council plans a public hearing on the tax hike July 16th,
before voting on it July 23rd. The tax means a person making: $30,000 would pay about $16 more a month, or $195 more per year.
$50,000 would pay about $27 more a month, or $325 more per year.
$100,000 would pay about $54 more a month, or $650 more per
year. Police union,
city agree on contract The city of But not for long. Starting today, both sides have agreed to
submit to an arbitration hearing that is binding and possibly
precedent-setting, given that no big-city police force in the state conducts
such tests. The new contract must be ratified by the City Council, which
next meets July 3. The union approved the deal last week. Formally known as the Yakima Police Patrolman's Association, which
covers some 117 officers and sergeants, the union has been without a contract
since the end of 2005. The new three-year contract, good until 2008, includes a
retroactive pay raise of 5 percent for the first six months of 2006 plus
another 1.25 percent for the rest of the year. It also includes another 5 percent raise for the first half of
2008 plus another 1 percent the second half. What is doesn't include is a pay raise for this year, which city
officials boasted will save the city more than $400,000. The total increase
in labor costs over the life of the contract was estimated at roughly $1.2
million. City Manager Dick Zais praised the new
contract as a compromise "that keeps wages for Union president Sgt. Bob Hester is off on injury leave and was
not immediately available for comment Monday. The new contract concludes a bitter dispute that reached an
all-time low in August, when the union declared an impasse over such issues
as better pay for special assignments and health insurance. But no issue has been more contentious than random drug testing,
which Chief Sam Granato first floated not long
after taking office in 2003. Personnel rules already allow for drug testing if supervisors
suspect an officer is under the influence of intoxicants such as illegal
drugs, painkillers or alcohol. But no police department in Washington of Yakima's size or
bigger has random testing, and union officials have been wary of it on the
grounds that such testing lacks some important safeguards. The dispute led to accusations that Granato
retaliated indirectly against the union by firing an officer. Two arbitrators in separate hearings ruled against the city. The
state Public Employment Relations Commission reversed one of those rulings,
however, and the city is appealing the other. |
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