|
|
Council
approves pay hike of 10.25% for LAPD officers From The The Los Angeles City Council has approved a contract with the LAPD's union giving officers increases totaling 10.25
percent over three years - an agreement that officials hope will serve as a
benchmark for other municipal unions. The package, which provides for increases of 3 percent the first
year, followed by hikes of 3.5 percent and 3.75 percent, was approved by the
council after more than 70 percent of the 9,200 police officers signed off on
the contract. Officials said the money for the raises was included in the
city's budget. They hope the contract will be a model as officials negotiate
other contracts, particularly with the United Firefighters of Los Angeles
City. "It's within the range we had hoped for," said Royce Minkus, who heads the employee relations section of the
City Administrative Office. "But each union negotiates on their own." The city has been at an impasse with the Engineers and
Architects Association for more than a year. Last year, it approved a
five-year contract that gives Department of Water and Power workers raises
totaling 16.2 percent, but contains escalator clauses that could boost
salaries by 31 percent. No raises, cost
of benefits leave some with little choice When Gary Lawrence dropped off his application to become a
police officer, he felt a calmness he hadn't expected in the two months he'd
spent deliberating his future. He knew he was doing the right thing. The woman behind the counter stamped his paperwork and wished
him luck, and that's when it became official: Lawrence, a senior investigator with the San Diego Police
Department, the lead detective in his unit, a 21-year veteran, was a
candidate for a patrol job with the Chula Vista Police Department. But the money is better, even in an entry-level position in a
department about an eighth the size of Like other officers in For Lawrence, who earns $78,000, it means his monthly take-home
pay is $50 less than what it was two years ago. And he has been told not to
expect a raise for at least three more years. With two of his six children still at home and another in
college, money is a constant concern for Lawrence and his wife, Blanca, who
runs a small business from home. “I feel that my 21 years of seniority should be good for
something, but they're not,” The struggles facing Lawrence and his family shed light on a
growing public safety problem in With staffing shortages presenting a variety of new problems,
Mayor Jerry Sanders and Police Chief William Lansdowne are finalizing a
recruitment and retention plan expected to be released this week. The plan is long on recruitment and short on financing, meaning
it won't stop officers such as After taking a hard-line stance during contract negotiations,
offering police nothing, Sanders is playing the loyalty card. In a video e-mail sent to officers last week, Sanders makes no
promises, but he says he hopes to offer pay and benefit increases as city
finances return to healthy levels. “I ask you to stick with the department that trained you . . . we need you to stay. We want you to
stay,” he said. Sanders has yet to reach
out to other city employees. “This group is the most affected, in terms of needing to hear
from their mayor,” Sanders' spokesman Fred Sainz
said. “This is the only employee group that we're having a recruitment and
retention problem with.” Although pay cuts get most of the blame, the vacancies also stem
from high housing costs, rising gasoline prices (many officers commute long
distances) and a robust job market for police. He and Blanca, both 42, canceled the family's annual summer
vacation this year, and they stopped taking the kids out to eat on Friday
nights. “I'm mad at the city. I'm angry,” Blanca Lawrence said, noting
that her husband “will have to prove himself all over again” if he's hired by
“I also worry how In At first, Then he started taking action. Before submitting his application in He spent a night riding with He changed his diet and lost 21 pounds. He downloaded recordings of past City Council meetings to listen
to what Sanders had to say about police compensation. He sought the advice of
his city councilman. “I love this place, but I don't want to worry about whether I'm gonna have to take another pay cut, or if I'm going to
get even more cases,” Chief Lansdowne said the pending Public Safety and Strategy Plan
the mayor is about to unveil includes a marketing strategy and a commitment
to competitive salaries in the future. “Eventually, there has to be competitive benefits and salaries,”
Lansdowne said. “Otherwise, they'll continue to leave.” Sanders was quoted late
last year in The San Diego
Union-Tribune saying that a four-year pay freeze for city employees
was a reasonable expectation. “He sounds like a robot to me,” Sanders is wrestling
with a host of financial problems resulting from a pension deficit of $1.43
billion. The pension system is at the center of two federal investigations
focused on decisions to underfund the system at a
time when city officials were increasing retirement payments. The mayor said his office is compiling a salary and benefit
survey, research he hopes will spark discussions with the police union prior
to next year's negotiations. This year, the mayor and City Council rejected a police union
proposal that sought $9.1 million in pay and benefit increases for fiscal
2007, which started Saturday. The day after the impasse, Of the 10 veterans hired by the Chula Vista Police Department
this year, six were from In his tenure as detective, His co-workers described him as modest, patient and diligent.
His supervisors called him their best interviewer, a mentor and driven. “Whenever we have something major, we give it to Hara oversees four detectives. He said he needs at least two
more. “This is the worst I've ever seen it – morale and staffing,”
Hara said. In fiscal 2006, 71 officers left Including retirements, the department is losing an average of 18
officers a month, a level not seen for at least the past three decades,
Assistant Chief Bill Maheu said. In a normal month,
the agency loses eight officers. To meet minimum staffing levels, the department recently began
calling in officers to work overtime. On a recent Sunday, 10 were called in, Maheu said. The extra work and plummeting morale reportedly has affected
just about everyone in the ranks, but some are too close to retirement to
think about starting over. Officer Jim Poole, a night-shift patrolman in Eastern Division,
came to the department six years ago. At 52, he plans to retire in four
years. With two pensions ahead of him and his children out of the
house, “We were told that the retention program consists of the chief
going to the City Council and asking if we can work a second job What they're
saying is, they can't afford to pay us a liveable
wage, so here's your chance to spend even less time with your families.” Family is what matters most to Lawrence, who took his wife with
him when he drove to What took two months to decide took two minutes to execute. “That wasn't very exciting,” he said when he got back in the
car. “Aren't they supposed to set off fireworks, or at least firecrackers?” Reality would set in soon enough. “Although my decision to apply to CVPD after a 21-year career
with SDPD is the most important decision in my professional life,”
The battle between The The board's executive director, Dorothy Johnson, expects
the powers to prevail in the current dispute with the police union. Johnson said, "The courts have upheld that the fiscal
crisis is real, the wage freeze powers are legal in this particular
instance." The PBA board of directors, who met Monday, believes Rich Newberg: What if the
courts rule in your favor? Buffalo PBA
president Bob Meegan:
Sayonara! I think I'll leave that to the membership. They can make that
determination if and when the time comes. Johnson points out that She says taxpayers would be ill-served by any police action. Johnson said, "I think it would be a shame if they didn't
have full police protection for the money taxpayers are paying." The police union and the city are negotiating a new deal that
could give officers a possible 10 percent increase in exchange for more
concessions. The rank-and-file meets later this week. NYPD
lieutenants, city reach pay deal
From The The NYPD Lieutenants Benevolent
Association reached a tentative agreement with the city that offers its
members the same 17% over four years won by firefighters and detectives,
sources said. The agreement, to be presented to delegates tomorrow, would
offer raises of 5%, 5%, 3% and 3.15% over the course of the retroactive
four-year contract, which would end this month, sources
said. The tentative pact does not increase the length of time it takes
to reach top pay, sources said. But the contract would defer some off days
and start a pilot program in certain precincts for 12-hour tours. Cops were awarded raises of 10.25% over two years last June for
a contract covering 2002 to 2004. However, an arbitration panel slashed the pay for recruits in
the Plan changes
retiree insurance From The NEWS TRIBUNE, July 2, 2006 So what, exactly, is on the negotiating table as Mayor Herb
Bergson's administration works to whittle A glimpse into city contract talks shows that union members'
money is. As for police, they might take free city golf and skiing as well as
pay raises and free parking -- in exchange for paying more for health
benefits. The biggest change might be that the city no longer wants to
guarantee retiree health insurance for people hired after 2006. As it stands, city employees who have retired get better
benefits than people still working. But that could be about to end, according
to contract proposals acquired by the News Tribune between the city and three
of its five employee bargaining units. If the unions accept the city's basic framework, an estimated
1,200 city retirees for the first time could be responsible for paying
insurance premiums. They, along with all active employees, would be asked to pay 20
percent of almost $1,200 a month for families or $470 for single coverage in
Blue Cross Blue Shield Plan 3. Many retirees also face co-pays for the first time and
deductibles of $250 per person. Prescription drugs would cost from $7 to $20, according to Blue
Cross and Blue Shield. Many of the roughly 850 active employees already pay such
out-of-pocket costs. "It's a public misconception to say that city
employees get free health insurance," said Police union vice president
Tom Maida. Still, no single-coverage active employees currently pay
premiums, said Gary Meier, city human resources director. The city of If negotiations stretch beyond that, it could mean catastrophe
for the city, said the head of the City Council-appointed retiree health-care
task force. The task force's 14 recommendations to solve the problem have
been largely embraced by the mayor, City Council and unions. Employee payments plus a universal plan could reduce the city's
long-term liability by $54 million, Meier said. Members of the police union say they're prepared to do their
part to satisfy recommendations made by the task force. The report called for
active employees and retirees to contribute $43 million in contract
concessions toward the liability. At the same time, it could be a boon to How big a burden falls on residents depends on how contract
negotiations shake out, said former interim Chief Administrative Officer
Julio Almanza. MORE
DETAILS If the city's proposal is accepted, retirees hired after 2006
would no longer be eligible for city health insurance unless they paid for it
themselves. The city also proposes setting up retiree health-care savings
accounts. Depending on the union, the city would contribute a lump sum of
$12,000 toward the employee accounts, or up to $1,000 a year after
retirement. An immediate saving touted in the city proposals is that
switching everyone to Plan 3 will immediately save the city nearly $600,000 a
year. The savings come from being able to buy the contract at a bulk rate
while reducing repetitive administrative costs. Still, there are lots of "ifs" left in these
negotiations, police union leaders said. They characterized talks as preliminary; after two months the
police union hasn't yet countered the city on health care. They remain more
than $1 million apart on raises over the three-year contract. And the free
parking would cost $98,000 a year. As for free golf and skiing at city recreation areas, police
union president Jon Haataja said his members asked
for those concessions after their health club stipends were taken away last
year to make up for training budget cuts. It would cost almost $100,000 to
provide golf and ski passes for each officer and nearly $170,000 for them and
their families. THE LAYOFF
ISSUE Another contract proposal by the police union is a request to
increase police staffing. Meanwhile, police union heads are willing to make
contract concessions to keep the new recruits they have on the force, they
said. Last week Bergson said he planned to fire 25 to 30 probationary
employees, including 11 new police officers, to save the city millions in
future retiree health-care costs. Bergson and police union heads met on Thursday, and Haataja said it appears that the layoff plan has worked
its way onto the bargaining table. Whether that was the mayor's intent or not,
it doesn't matter at this point, Haataja said. A News Tribune reporter sat in on a bargaining session Friday
between police and city staff. At the meeting, police offered to put all probationary officers
under contract terms for 2007 hires, which would ease Bergson's concerns. Though Bergson gave the impression last week that the layoffs
were about to occur, he appeared to back away from that position in an e-mail
to the News Tribune Friday. "There isn't a 'done deal,' " he wrote. CURRENT
RETIREES? The city pays health-care costs for its retirees, except those
who qualify for Medicare at age 65. They are responsible for those premiums. But Bergson said retirees will soon be brought down to the same
level of benefits that active employees get. The city has a legal opinion and
state court precedent to back that move, Bergson said. Current union leaders said they are not negotiating for retirees
but understand they effectively could be. Those benefits were hard-won in contract negotiations with the city
over more than 20 years, said Ted Griak, past head
of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Workers
gave up pay raises and sick days in exchange for the paid family medical
plans, he said. Eli Miletich, the former police chief,
said the workers have identified a court ruling in their favor. It will be up to the retirees to challenge the city's position
in a lawsuit, Bergson said. |
||||||||||||||||
|
|
Copyright ã POLICEPAY.NET,
Inc. 2006 All Rights Reserved |
||||||||||||||||
The POLICEPAY Journal
Published
by:
POLICEPAY.NET,
Inc.
Oklahoma
City, OK 73102
(405)
234-2235