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LAS VEGAS SEMINAR
POWER, INFLUENCE & PERSUASION
POLICE CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY OCTOBER 25 & 26, 2007
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Denver cops OK 14 percent pay hike
Salary increase will cost city over $5 million
From the Rocky Mountain News, August
25, 2007
Denver police on Friday voted overwhemlingly
in favor of a new three-year contract that will add $9,000 to the paycheck of
an experienced officer by 2010.
The pay increase is expected to cost
the city more than $5 million and is being factored into the 2008 budget the
mayor will propose to Denver City Council on Sept. 15.
Members of the police union voted 796
in favor and 28 opposed to the increase, said Detective John White, Denver police spokesman.
It means patrol officers will receive
a 14 percent raise in increments between Jan. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2010, in
an effort to achieve parity with officers in cities similar to Denver and around the
state.
"Our primary focus in
determining compensation for any city employee group is fairness," Lindy
Eichenbaum Lent, senior adviser to Mayor John Hickenlooper, wrote in an e-mail.
The negotiations were based on a
market analysis and comparison of pay scales in other departments, she said,
and Denver
police wound up falling behind the wages of others.
In the previous contract negotiated
when the city was experiencing a budget shortfall, Denver officers received only a 5 percent
pay increase between 2004 and 2007, Lent said.
In 2005, they received no raise at
all.
During a similar period, Denver firefighters received a total increase of 9
percent, and Denver
sheriff's deputies received an 11 percent increase, she said.
Under the new contract, effective
Jan. 1, 2008, cadets and officers will receive a 4.75 percent increase for
the year, followed by 4.75 percent in 2009 and 4.5 percent in 2010.
That means a top patrol officer now
earning $63,252 will be bringing home an extra $3,000 in 2008.
By the end of 2010, when the contract
expires, that same officer will have earned a base salary of $72,526.
The city will continue to provide
other benefits - paying 80 percent of a police officer's health insurance
premiums, for example.
The contract for firefighters expires
Dec. 31, 2008, a fire department spokesman said, so those negotiations will
start sometime next year.
Sheriff's deputies will start their
negotiations in October for Jan. 1, 2008, to Dec., 31, 2010, said Jeff Shaw,
vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents that
department.
In all three negotiations, a strike
is unlikely.
"We don't approve of strikes -
they are not beneficial to the community," Shaw said.
"We also can't strike by
law," he said.
Pay
comparison
The 2007 nationwide median base pay
for police officers was $46,596, according to salary.com, as reported by CNN.
Here are 2007 annual base salaries for patrol officers in Denver
and elsewhere along the Front Range. All
figures are approximate:
City Pay range
• Denver $41,124 to $63,252*
• Arvada $46,743 to $64,123
• Boulder $44,253 to $65,564
• Fort Collins $48,982 to $66,663
• Denver firefighters $40,006 to $61,548
• Denver Sheriff's $40,164 to $55,968
Informal union talks fare well
Nothing decided in first day of public
safety negotiations
From the Vallejo
Times Herald, August 29, 2007
City and union officials said the first informal labor
negotiations to be conducted outside arbitration went well Tuesday, but
nothing concrete was decided.
"It went fine - it was very informative," said Alan C.
Davis, attorney for the police and fire unions. "We went away on very
good terms."
Before the groups decide when to meet again, they were waiting
for City Manager Joe Tanner to see how much deal-making latitude he could
leverage from a council majority who voted to cut $7 million in public safety
staffing to shore up a projected $9 million budget deficit. The council and
Tanner met in closed session Tuesday night.
"The council did give me direction," Tanner said after
the council meeting adjourned.
He declined to comment further on what parameters were set
during the closed session due to confidentiality rules.
Although, both sides have agreed to keep specific details of the
discussions private, officials disclosed Tuesday they talked about the city's
financial picture. That has been a source of much debate but one not allowed
in binding arbitration that resumes next week.
The city's labor consultants have been reluctant until now to
allow the unions to negotiate over whether Vallejo actually faces the projected $9
million fiscal crisis that led to the staffing cuts. Also new is the presence
of Fire Chief Don Parker, who has a good relationship with union leaders, on
the city's side of the table.
"The effort looks like it's going to continue - they're not
at the point of talking particulars," Parker said Tuesday. "Both
sides realize that there needs to be mutual give and take."
Before arbitration proceedings began in mid-August, Tanner
appointed Deputy Chief Russ Sherman - instead of Parker - to strike a deal
with the union leaders, despite Sherman's
acrimonious relationship with union president Kurt Henke.
But Tanner, who was not present at Tuesday's talks, later
acknowledged that approach was not working, and let labor consultants
continue the city's march toward arbitration.
The decision to bring Parker in this week follows an unfavorable
initial report from arbitrator Tom Angelo. Officials on both sides privately
say they took Angelo's remarks, made public Monday, as a signal that he will uphold
the union's complaints about the negative effect of the cuts on firefighter
workload and safety.
Parker, in his first comments since Tanner asked him to join the
talks, said he appreciated the chance to work out a deal.
"I do feel like I do have a good rapport with both sides;
we'll see how that works," Parker said. "I do believe that there is
room for both sides to make movement."
Low pay
drives Florida Highway
Patrol troopers to the exits
35% leave each year, creating a shortage of officers.
From the Orlando
Sentinel, August 28, 2007
Longtime Florida
Highway Patrol troopers continue to leave the agency in droves for
higher-paying jobs as police officers, deputy sheriffs and even federal air
marshals.
Many of these state troopers say they loved their jobs patrolling the state's
highways and roads. But an outdated salary structure has frustrated veteran
troopers, who often earn only a few thousand dollars a year more than raw new
recruits.
FHP officials say the exodus of rank-and-file veterans has resulted in a
current shortage of more than 200 troopers statewide. In Central
Florida, there is a shortage of more than two dozen troopers.
Officials estimate about 35 percent of troopers leave each year for
higher-paying jobs.
Responding to the shortfall, the FHP recently launched recruitment drives
targeting universities, community colleges and military veterans. In another
effort to stem the tide, the agency now requires new troopers to sign a
contract saying they will stay with the FHP for at least two years or pay
back some of the money it cost to train them.
"In today's world, it is challenging. And it's a problem we're
facing," FHP spokesman Maj. Ernesto Duarte said. "There's no magic
bullet."
The trooper shortage carries consequences: It means car-accident victims
often end up waiting hours for a patrol officer to arrive and take a report.
"On some days, it's crazy. You go from crash to crash to crash --
especially on rainy summer afternoons when we have a lot of wrecks,"
Trooper Kim Miller said. "It does get frustrating for people waiting,
especially when they've had to wait for three or four hours. Some people get very upset, which I can
understand."
Starting pay for a state trooper today is about $34,000 a year, according to Duarte. Because troopers
are state employees, it's the Legislature that budgets money for hiring and
raising salaries.
"Year after year, it was empty promises" from the Legislature, said
one former trooper, who did not want to be identified because he now works as
a federal air marshal. Traveling on flights around the country, he earns
about $20,000 more than he was making as a trooper.
"And I'm having a great time," he said.
Across Florida,
the patrol had 1,638 sworn officers at the end of July, but is making do with
an 11-percent shortfall in troopers. In this area -- including Orange, Seminole, Lake,
Brevard, Osceola and Volusia - there were 219 sworn officers patrolling the
roads. The agency is authorized to have 26 more. Statewide, FHP officials say
they are authorized to have an additional 208.
It's similar to 2000-01, a recent high watermark for departures, when the
agency had more than 160 trooper vacancies with many veterans opting for
early retirement.
FHP officials say they need more troopers to cope with a growing population.
At the end of 2006, there were 15.7 million licensed drivers in Florida, and about 60
million tourists visit every year. Last year, troopers wrote more than 1
million citations, responded to more than 254,500 crashes and arrested almost
11,500 drivers on suspicion of DUI.
"Those are numbers that do concern us," Duarte said.
So does trooper pay.
"We're working closely with the Legislature on this," Duarte said about
supplementing trooper salaries. "But we recognize that the state is
going through some challenging times.
In today's world, there are issues like reducing property taxes,
[homeowners] insurance, gasoline prices. It affects
everyone, including members of the FHP."
FHP officials plan to urge state lawmakers to adopt a salary plan in which
veteran troopers are awarded $500 per year for up to 10 years or $5,000.
It costs $75,000 to $80,000 to train and equip each new recruit. But new
troopers often would flee to other law-enforcement agencies soon after they
were trained. To prevent that from happening, the agency instituted the
two-year contract.
Trooper disenchantment with pay is a chronic problem.
The Orlando Police Department, for example, pays its starting officers about
$42,300 a year, according to Officer Jim Young, a department spokesman. Young
said many new recruits served two to five years with the FHP before becoming Orlando officers.
"I would say pay is probably the biggest reason," Young said. He
added many troopers also want to work in different areas of law enforcement,
such as bike patrol and murder investigations.
Jim Whitman left the FHP in 2004 after almost 10 years. His salary at the
time was about $32,000. But when he joined the Winter Park Police Department,
his pay jumped by more than $5,000.
"I was training officers that were making the same as I was, and that
was frustrating," Whitman said.
All Biloxi
employees get $4,593 pay raise
From
the Sun Herald, August 28, 2007
BILOXI --
"It ended up working out for
everyone," Biloxi Policeman Ron Weeks said after the Biloxi City Council
decided this morning to budget raises of $4,593 for all city employees.
The police and fire departments
banded together at the beginning of the budget meetings and asked the council
for a 15 percent raise for emergency personnel. Weeks said "we're
happy," with the cost of living raise the council agreed upon,
especially since the board also said they will hire a professional to look at
the city pay scale and make it fair to all employees.
The salary committee of
councilmen Mike Fitzpatrick, David Fayard and Bill Stallworth recommended a raise of $5,176 for front-line
police and fire personnel and a $4,010 raise for other city staff.
Councilman George Lawrence argued
there should be across-the-board raises for all city employees and the other
board members went along with that suggestion.
Stallworth said the council should be clear that this action also pushes
up the entry level pay scale $4,593, and said, "That's a lot of
pushing."
Police contract
talks starting early
From the Greenwich Time, August 28, 2007
With police seeking higher salaries in upcoming contract negotiations, town
officials say they recognize they must maintain competitive salaries to
successfully vie for a smaller pool of aspiring police candidates.
While the union's four-year contract doesn't expire until June, talks are
expected to begin next month.
Town Labor Relations Director Al Cava, who helps negotiate employee contracts
for the town, said recruitment efforts have become more challenging because
of higher salaries for officers in nearby New York and a shrinking number of
applicants for police jobs in Fairfield County.
"We want to recruit the highest caliber candidates and I think we've
done a good job of doing that and want to continue to do that," Cava
said. "We're not completely ignoring Westchester County
because they are our next door neighbors and we need to be mindful of what's
going on."
Greenwich Police Chief David Ridberg said that
current police salaries and benefits are in line with neighboring Fairfield County departments, but that wage
increases can aid in attracting more and better candidates.
Last year the town's list of eligible candidates for entry level police
officer was exhausted, and police undertook an aggressive recruiting effort
to fill empty jobs on the force caused by retirements and other departures, Ridberg said.
"I'm more than happy when the wages and benefits rise for new recruits
and the officers who work for me because it aids recruitment and
retention," Ridberg said. "But contract
negotiation time always puts people on edge ... No one side gets everything
they want."
Police union officials want higher salaries and better benefits on par with
nearby New York
departments, said Sgt. James Bonney, president of
the Silver Shield Association, which represents the department's 153
uniformed officers.
Bonney said that Greenwich
officers with five years on the job currently earn a salary of $63,112, tens
of thousands less than some of their Westchester
counterparts in comparable communities.
The difference in salary impacts the quality of the recruits the town can
attract, Bonney said.
"It's all up to the negotiations," Bonney
said. "I believe the town of Greenwich
has aggressively negotiated contracts with the union in the past and done
such a good job they have negotiated themselves right out of the market for
top quality police officers."
In addition to higher salaries, Greenwich
officers will likely seek longevity bonuses, and higher town contributions to
their pension plans, Bonney said.
Many departments give officers longevity bonuses at the 5- 10- and 15-year
service marks, Bonney said.
Ridberg said that aside from money, the department
offers aspiring officers enough variety and advancement opportunities because
it is larger than many Connecticut
police departments.
Assignments to the Marine Division, as a neighborhood resource officer or to
one of the relatively large number of detective positions in the Greenwich police
department provide opportunities many smaller departments lack.
"I think its a terrific department and a
perfect sized department to allow room for growth," Ridberg
said. "I know every one of my officers by name, but there is a happy
medium between all the excitement a large department offers, and the work
blend is a nice blend of criminal and public service calls and appeals to
those who want to run out and catch bad guys and to those who want to help
people."
Last year the department faced staffing shortages after it reached a low of
143 officers, 13 fewer than its recommended number of 156, officials have
said.
Police superior officers get 17% pay hike
Health
insurance cost shifts also included in 6-year contract
From the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, August 18, 2007
WORCESTER— An arbitration panel has awarded a six-year contract giving
police superior officers pay raises totaling 17 percent.
The decision of the Joint Labor Management Committee also shifts some of the
increasing costs of health insurance to the sergeants, lieutenants and
captains in Local 504 of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers. It
also eliminates the so-called “me too” wage re-opener that allowed the union
to return to the bargaining table if the city granted other unions a better
deal.
The ranking officers have been without a contract since July 2003. The
panel’s decision reached July 23 was presented to the City Council Tuesday,
where a motion to advertise an ordinance to implement the contract got
unanimous backing.
City Manager Michael V. O’Brien called it a difficult arbitration, but said
he is “very proud that we were able to successfully resolve this contract.”
He expressed gratitude to the labor management committee for “elimination of ‘re-opener’ clauses and ‘me-too’ clauses that created
the cycle of arbitration awards and the number of fiscal difficulties we
still address today.”
Local 504 President Sgt. Donald E. Cummings called it a fair award and said,
“We’re happy that the process is over. The police officials throughout this
whole process continued to provide excellent police service to the
community.”
In addition to the four-year contract originally before the arbitration
panel, it decided — with the agreement of the parties — on a two-year
contract for fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2009. The panel awarded the union two
2-percent raises in the middle of each year.
Amid the 13 percent in pay raises from July 1, 2003, through June 30, 2007,
was 2 percent because of the shift of health insurance costs of the union
members. There was also a $650 increase because union members will have to
accumulate more sick days before the city will buy them back and to maintain
the differential between the officials and the patrolmen’s union, which was
given a 0.75 percent increase effective July 1, 2003, for being the first to
settle that contract.
The City Council approved a $390,000 transfer from the city manager’s
contingency account to the police salaries account to fund the fiscal 2008
portion of the contract. Mr. O’Brien said $200,000 of that amount was
unexpected and will have to be replenished from another source.
By Jan. 1, 2009, the new contract will raise the salaries of sergeants,
depending on their educational level up to a master’s degree, from $69,857 to
$87,321; lieutenants, $77,642 to $97,052; captains, $84,404 to $105,505.
The share of health insurance premiums will increase from 10 percent for
officials with Fallon plans and 13 percent for those with Blue Cross Blue
Shield plans, to 20 percent regardless of the plan for those hired before
Jan. 1, 2006, and 25 percent for those hired after that. Prescription drug
co-payments will rise from $5 for generic drugs and $10 for other drugs to
between $10 and $35.
The new contract also will give officials a $250 stipend each for expertise
in defibrillator use and for serving civil process papers, increase minimum
pay for court time from three hours to four hours, and increase minimum pay
of off-duty road/construction jobs
Left unresolved by the award was whether to include language in the contract
requiring a presumption that heart ailments are job-related, entitling the
official to paid injury leave, and whether officials injured on or off the
job can be assigned limited duties.
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