|
|
POLICEPAY.NET
SEMINAR’S click here for more info Seminar on October 20-21, You still have time to sign up
National City police get bonus instead of raise NATIONAL
CITY – Police officers in National City agreed to a one-time $3,300 bonus in
lieu of a pay raise this fiscal year because the city can't afford more than
that. The
City Council this week unanimously approved a one-year contract, which
includes allowing officers who live in the city to take home patrol cars,
increased educational reimbursement and converting two floating holidays to
permanent days off. Other
city departments did not receive a raise this year,and the firefighters union took a one-time bonus
in January. The Police Officers Association said it understood the city's
financial position. The
agreement recognizes hard work with a bonus, but does not commit the city to
an ongoing raise expense, for which it has no money, City Manager Chris
Zapata said. This
round of bargaining was much smoother than in years past primarily because
new city leadership is more open about its process, said the union's
president, Dennis Leach. Negotiations
for the contract began in May and concluded last month. Police officer
contracts are usually negotiated for one to three years. Firefighters' Union
Declares Impasse With City In Contract Talks From
NY1, September 06, 2005 Uniformed
Firefighters Association President Stephen Cassidy says he's had it. His
union is going nowhere in contract talks with the city, so now he's headed
for binding arbitration, asking the state's Public Employees Relations Board
to get involved. Common
Council approves contract with police union
The
council vote will allow Mayor Marlinda Duncanson to sign a labor contract with the City of
Middletown Police Benevolent Association immediately, ending a long and
sometimes bitter process. Police
had been working without a contract since the previous agreement expired in
December 2003. The PBA approved the new contract in July. The
new contract is retroactive to January 2004. It provides a system of twice
yearly 2 percent raises for officers through 2005, and twice yearly 2.25 percent
raises in 2006. It also provides a 5 percent pay differential for unit and
bureau commanders above rank-and-file salaries. Manchin
Offers Raises From Associated Press, September 6, 2005 Other
state employees in line for the raise include corrections officers and child
welfare workers. Manchin has proposed a $900 pay increase for the state's
remaining workers. The
pay plans are part of Manchin's agenda for
Wednesday's special session. The
special session agenda also includes Manchin's
proposal to reduce the food tax from 6 percent to 5 percent. And
Manchin wants to devote another $93 million toward
funding shortfalls in public employee pension plans. The
special session agenda has 14 items in total. Other
items include a crackdown on so-called 527 political groups and a measure
allowing state workers to be transferred across cabinet departments. The
agenda does not include table games for racetracks or a reduction in the
state's gasoline tax. Police union OKs 3-year pact,
insurance payment plan From The Providence Journal, September
6, 2005
WEST WARWICK -- The police officers
union has accepted a new contract that, for the first time, requires all
officers to pay part of their health-insurance premiums, Town Council member
John J. Flynn said. The
rank and file of Local 312, International Brotherhood of Police Officers,
which has more than 70 members, ratified the three-year agrement
last Tuesday, Flynn said. The Town Council is expected to follow suit
tonight. The
union's previous, two-year contract expired on June 30, and negotiators met
at least six times over the past three months to craft a new agreement. They
last met on Aug. 11, said Flynn, who represented the council in the talks
alongside Republican council member Leo J. Costantino
Jr. and Town Manager Wolfgang Bauer. Timothy
J. Poulin, the union president, and Patrolman Scott
Amaral, a union negotiator, did not return calls
for comment last week. Police Chief Peter T. Brousseau
said he would not discuss the contract until it is approved by both sides. Under
the milestone accord, police officers with family health plans will pay $15
per week toward their health insurance premiums. That contribution will rise
to $18 in the second year of the contract and to $21 in the final year.
Previously, only officers hired after July 1, 2002 helped pay part of their
health-insurance premiums, contributing $7.50 per week. The
agreement on health-insurance contributions mirrors the new firefighters contract, ratified by the council on Aug. 2.
Local 1104 of the International Association of Fire Fighters had never before
agreed to have members contribute to their health-insurance premiums. (New
Town Hall workers contribute 11 1/2 percent of their weekly pay.) "Everyone
knew it was coming," Flynn said. "With the amount [of the
contribution], there wasn't much to argue about because the Fire Department
had agreed to it." Police
officers also agreed to increase their weekly contributions to their pension
fund, from 6 percent to 8 percent of salary. The
contract will give police an immediate 3.75 percent raise, retroactive to
July 1, and 4 percent raises on July 1, 2006 and on July 1, 2007, Flynn said. Also,
the town agreed to hire two additional officers, by January 2007, to form a
new traffic division. Flynn
failed in attempts to persuade council members during budget negotiations to
hike the authorized number of officers. The two promised hirings
do not increase the authorized roster, meaning they would not necessarily be
replaced if they leave. Their
salaries and benefits will cost the town about $130,000 a year, Flynn said. "A
lot of people complain about speeding in the neighborhoods," Flynn said.
"I think it's going to address some of the concerns." The
new contract will also help retired police officers, Costantino
said. The agreement changes a town policy that prohibited retired West
Warwick police officers from working special details. The policy closed off
an avenue for supplementing pensions and it forced reliance on out-of-town
officers incapable of giving accurate directions to detoured motorists. The
contract the police union approved will allow the town to hire local retired
officers, who will contribute to their workers-compensation insurance
premiums, Costantino said. The special details are
first offered to off-duty police officers. "If
guys retire, they know they have a source of income," Flynn said.
"It's an important thing to them and it doesn't cost the town any
money." If
the council approves the new police contract tonight, it will replace two of
the three contracts that expired on June 30. Negotiations with the municipal
employees union, Local 2045 of Council 94 of the American Federation of
State, County, and Municipal Employees, broke off on Aug. 4 after Costantino suggested union lobbying had persuaded council
members to oppose his proposal to automate rubbish collection. The
union denied the allegation and demanded an apology from Costantino.
But union leaders later said they would return to the table without the
apology, and Costantino said a negotiating session
is scheduled for Thursday. Public Employee Pay
Lagging, Despite State Budget Improvements From
US Newswire, September 4, 2005 The
salaries of state- employed professionals exhibited sluggish growth for the
second straight year, according to the 2005 AFT Public Employees Compensation
Survey, the only national survey that tracks such trends. At a time when most
states are recovering from the budget crises of the past few years, the
survey raises concerns that inadequate workforce investments could diminish
the quality of already strained public services and hamper recruitment and
retention efforts. "Years
of layoffs, hiring freezes and salary freezes have resulted in public
services being stretched to capacity, with public employees asked to do more
with less," said Edward J. McElroy, AFT president. "While public
employees have risen to the challenge, some relief is now in order-not only
for their sake, but for the sake of all of us who rely on the public services
they provide." The
new report reveals that the median salary increase across the 45 jobs
surveyed was just 1.19 percent from 2004 to 2005, significantly below the
inflation rate of 3.15 percent for that period. From 2002 to 2005, the median
cumulative increase was only 4.6 percent, which compares to an inflation rate
of 8.11 percent. The survey further finds that public sector professionals
are significantly underpaid compared to their private sector peers. The
AFT survey comes at a time when states are regaining their financial footing
after one of the worst budget crises in a generation. Since the last quarter
of 2003, states have recorded six consecutive quarters of real revenue
growth, with continued growth expected, according to a June 2005 study by the
Rockefeller Institute of Government. "With
state finances moving in the right direction, states need to be wise stewards
of their funds," said McElroy. "Instead of squandering resources on
short-term tax giveaways for a few, states should invest in high-quality
public services that will benefit the vast majority of citizens for years to
come." The
AFT report highlights a significant private/public sector salary gap that
could exacerbate a growing recruitment and retention crisis in state
government workforces. In many states, it is estimated that more than 20
percent of state employees will retire in the next five years, heightening
the need to attract highly skilled workers to the public sector. Yet, the AFT
analysis shows that private sector salaries exceed public sector salaries in
18 of the 21 cases in which job matches were made-in two cases (attorney and
geologist) by as much as 90 percent. Across all 21 occupations, salaries in
the private sector are, on average, almost 30 percent higher than those in
the public sector. "With
so many experienced professionals expected to retire in the near future,
certain states run the risk of a major 'brain drain' if they don't make their
salaries more competitive," said Steve Porter, director of the AFT
Public Employees division. "And the stakes are high. The quality public
services that we've come to depend on-everything from clean air to safe
bridges to health and human services-are at risk." One
factor that helps reduce the public/private sector salary gap is collective
bargaining. The AFT report finds that, for 43 of the 45 occupations surveyed,
the average salary in collective bargaining states exceeds that in states
where public employees are denied collective bargaining. On average,
collective bargaining salaries exceed noncollective
bargaining salaries by 16.2 percent. The
AFT Public Employees Compensation Survey has been published annually since
2000. The survey examines 45 representative job titles, asking states to
match the job description provided by AFT Public Employees. This methodology
allows for salary comparisons across states for a particular job title,
although cost-of-living and other factors should be considered. "This
survey shows once again that public employees are a bargain to the taxpayers
and citizens who benefit every day from essential public services," said
McElroy. "Public employees are the people who police our streets,
inspect our food, maintain our parks, repair our roads-and, in general, see
to it that our states and communities run smoothly and safely. Investing in
public services-and the employees who provide these services-is one of the
smartest choices we can make." The
full report and supporting data can be found at http://www.aft.org/pubemps/news/2005compsurvey.htm.
Public dissemination of information on this site, in news stories or
otherwise, is prohibited until 12:01 a.m., Sept. 4, 2005. Two police, fire salary options on council table Councilman
Loudermilk questions if contracts will be honored The
other set, submitted by Council President Rich Dunkin, D-1st, but referred to
as "the ordinances I wrote" by Norm Loudermilk,
D-3rd, offer a 4 percent increase across the board, and include the same
benefits offered for this year. Loudermilk said the council has control of all city
fiscal matters through the budget, and that fiscal oversight includes
benefits. Attorney
Joe Anderson, speaking for the police union, and Mike Morrison, president of
the local firefighters' union, endorsed the salary ordinances submitted by
Dunkin. Stratford
police union seeks contract arbitration From the Connecticut Post, September 2, 2005 STRATFORD
— The local police union filed for arbitration Wednesday after negotiations
with the town hit a wall. The
officers' union has been working without a contract since July 1, the
beginning of the new fiscal year. Sgt.
Pat Freer, a union representative, said Thursday that talks with the town
have not been antagonistic, but the two sides have failed to reach agreement
after 10 meetings. "We're just at an impasse. We just didn't see eye to
eye," he said. "We have filed [for arbitration], but we're going to
have another meeting to try to get an agreement. We're hopeful we can resolve
this without a state decision." Freer
and union attorney Robert Murray declined to give details on where
negotiations went sour, but Freer indicated pay raises and insurance fees are
sticking points. Compensation
continues under terms of the last contract until a new one is approved, Freer
said. "Everything is status quo," he said. "When a new
[contract] is approved, everything is retroactive to July 1." The
last three-year contract between the town and police union was unanimously
approved by the Town Council in October 2003. The pact had raises ranging
from 2.7 to 3 percent. The most experienced officers are paid about $52,000
annually. That
retroactive pact was adopted following more than a year of acrimonious
negotiations between police union and town officials. Under
the previous contract, officers agreed to pay a capped percentage of their
health insurance costs. Union givebacks were proposed by several councilmen
during this spring's debate over the 2005-06 town budget.
The council eventually passed a $154.3 million overall spending plan. Both
Fire Chief Ronald Nattrass and Police Chief Michael
A. Imbro said they've had to cut services as a
result of the budget. Murray said Thursday the state usually steps in to try
to forge an agreement 30 days after a contract ends. "Generally the
state will impose contract arbitration, but they didn't here," he said. Murray
said he is also hopeful the union and town can reach a settlement. "Just
because you file [for arbitration] doesn't mean you can't continue negotiations," he said.
"At the moment we don't have any meetings scheduled" with town
negotiators. Teamsters
make new bid to be Metro cop union Less
than a year after narrowly losing an election to become the union
representing Metro police officers, the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters is mounting an aggressive campaign to muscle out the Nashville
Fraternal Order of Police and force a new election. In
what has become a nationwide battle between the two union groups seeking to
woo public-safety employees to their organizations, Teamsters officials are
launching a petition drive Wednesday to attract a majority of Metro's
1,200-plus officers and decertify the FOP. In
September, the FOP fought off an attempt by the Teamsters to become the
bargaining unit for officers, winning a bare majority of the 1,032 ballots
cast. The FOP garnered 524 votes, beating the Teamsters by only 16.
Currently, more than 1,000 Metro officers are dues-paying members of the FOP. Teamsters
officials said that some officers have become dissatisfied with the FOP in
the past year for not fighting aggressively enough for a lucrative new
pension plan Metro officers sought. That
discontent offered the Teamsters another opening in Nashville, said Jesse
Case, a Teamsters official from Washington, D.C., who is a key organizer of
the Nashville takeover attempt. "The
officers approached us to come back," he said. A
week before the petition drive, the war of words between the two groups had
already started to heat up. Teamsters officials
accused Nashville FOP President Ed Mason of selling out officers by aligning
himself too closely with top city officials and department brass. Mason
has said he is concerned about Nashville's police officers aligning
themselves with an organization that has historically been linked with
organized crime. "If
that has not changed, that could be a conflict of interest," Mason said. Metro
police Chief Ronal Serpas said through a spokesman
that he is staying neutral and doesn't expect the split among officers on the
union issue will affect the department's work. Serpas
will seek direction from the City Council on what guidelines to follow if the
Teamsters are chosen to represent officers, department officials said. Metro
police Lt. Calvin Hullett, a former president of
the Nashville FOP who is helping to lead the campaign to bring in the
Teamsters, said the FOP did Metro officers a disservice by agreeing too
quickly to a three-year contract with less pay and benefits than many
officers hoped for. A
key provision officers sought was a pension increase that would pay retirees
75% of their salaries if they retire after 30 years of service, with annual
increases after that. About 200 policemen and firefighters staged a
demonstration in May to demand that benefit and higher wages. Signing
a contract too quickly destroyed the officers' bargaining power, Hullett said. "When they accepted that offer, they
closed the door for negotiating that pension plan for the next three
years," he said. FOP
officials said the contract they agreed to does not
formally accept the pay raises offered by Metro government and allows the
union to reopen negotiation on financial matters in 2007. The
pension provision was unlikely to be approved in a year when Metro government
was cash-strapped after increases in spending for schools and health care,
FOP officials said. Some
officers said they prefer to be represented by the FOP, which works
specifically with public-safety workers, unlike the Teamsters, which
represents employees in many industries. "I rather have police officers
fight for my benefits than union workers who don't know what I go through on
the job," said officer George Patonis, 36.
"The way I look at it is they (Teamsters) are coming down here to
collect a paycheck." The
Teamsters represent officers in more than 1,200 law-enforcement agencies in
the U.S. The organization recently started a new law-enforcement division
aimed at increasing its ranks of police officers. Nashville has been named
the first of its target cities under that initiative. In
recent weeks the union has begun contacting Metro officers through e-mail and
telephone calls, seeking their support. After
next week's membership push in Nashville, the Teamsters have scheduled union
training sessions here Sept. 13-14. But
the Teamsters aren't waiting to begin representing local officers. Last week,
the union held a rally to denounce a Metro police policy of requiring that
officers returning from military duty undergo two days of physical and
psychological evaluation. Labor
expert Richard Hurd of Cornell University in
Ithaca, N.Y., says the Teamsters' moves appear to be part of a national
strategy to get more public workers, because many unions are losing members
in the private sector. "Private-sector
unions are declining and are going toward public employees," he said. Law lets cities disband
police Combining
services with counties could save taxpayer money From
the Journal Sentinel, August 26, 2005 Cities
and villages would be allowed to disband their police departments and
contract with counties for law enforcement service under a new law intended
to encourage cost-saving consolidations. "Allowing
cities and villages to combine law enforcement services with counties should
serve as a vehicle to save taxpayer dollars," said Sen. Joe Leibham (R-Sheboygan), the sponsor of the Senate version
of the bill signed by Gov. Jim Doyle. Previously,
state law required all cities and villages with a population of 5,000 or more
to have their own police departments. Cities and villages meeting this
population minimum could contract for police protection with a county, but it
was unclear whether they could abolish their own police departments if they
signed such contracts. That
unanswered legal question kept communities from actively pursuing these
contracts because the ultimate cost-saving benefit was unclear if they had to
continue to maintain their own police departments, said Jeffrey Wiswell, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Sheriffs and
Deputy Sheriffs Association, which endorsed the legislation. "It
was always kind of a gray area," he said. The
new law specifically authorizes a city or village to abolish its police
department if it enters into a contract with a county for the sheriff to
provide law enforcement services throughout all of or in parts of the city or
village. Towns
are presently not required to have police departments of their own and many
already contract with sheriff's departments. Advocates
of the change in state law say the clarification is likely to encourage
communities to explore county law enforcement contracts as a way to save
money. "Now
that it is clearly legal to abolish a police department in favor of a county
contract, we may see more municipalities moving in that direction," Wiswell said. Several
state task forces in recent years, including ones created by former governors
Tommy G. Thompson and Scott McCallum, have urged municipalities and counties
to cut costs and avoid duplication of services by working together to
consolidate their delivery of services to residents. With
most local officials facing tight municipal budgets and new state-imposed
property tax levy limits, the idea of contracting with county sheriffs
departments for law enforcement services may get some serious consideration
now that the law has been clarified, said David Krahn,
legislative liaison for Waukesha County, which also supported the bill
clarifying the law. "The
whole idea behind the bill is cooperation, regionalization and
consolidation," Krahn said. "This
clears the way. Will it happen overnight? Of course not; but it's one more
tool that Waukesha County cities and villages and communities all over the
state can use to reduce property taxes." Rich
Eggleston, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities, said for some
communities, especially small cities and villages, it may make sense for them
to contract with a sheriffs department for law enforcement and eliminate
their own police departments as a cost-saving measure. "It's
another way to save money for taxpayers by making government as efficient and
streamlined and responsive as we can," he said. But,
he said, it is important to note that the new law does not require cities and
villages to pursue these contracts, nor does it require them to abolish their
own police departments if they do have county law enforcement contracts. The
Wisconsin Professional Police Association originally opposed the legislation. But
the organization withdrew its opposition after amendments were added to the
bill - including one that requires a sheriff to try to hire any additional
deputies who may be needed as a result of a new contract with a city or
village from the ranks of police officers who lost their jobs when their
department was disbanded. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Copyright ã POLICEPAY.NET,
Inc. 2005 All Rights Reserved |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The POLICEPAY Journal
Published
by:
POLICEPAY.NET,
Inc.
(405)
234-2235