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Interview Listen
to David Kallas
Executive Director of The Las Vegas Police Protective Association in an
interview with POLICEPAY Journal Editor, Matt Barnard about the recent vote
by the Fiscal Affairs Committee
City approves raises for
police From
the Orlando Sentinel, October 27, 2005
A
proposed $52 million, four-year contract that would raise the pay of Las
Vegas police officers by more than 25 percent was rejected Monday on a 3-2
vote by the Metropolitan Police Committee on Fiscal Affairs, sending the
contract negotiations to a non-binding fact-finding process. Faced
with the fact that six of seven Clark County commissioners opposed the
contract, appointed committee Chairman Peter Thomas said he wasn't
comfortable approving a contract opposed by officials elected by the vast
majority of county voters. "I
don't believe a person in my position, not directly accountable to voters,
should be able to decide an issue with this magnitude of an impact on county
taxpayers," Thomas said. Members
of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association voted in the past week 1,191
to 76 in favor of the contract, with opponents saying the pact doesn't
adequately bolster the officers' health coverage until the final year of the
contract, said Dave Kallas, executive director of
the officers' union. Kallas said officers are frustrated that they don't
have a contract after eight months of negotiations and that it's not fair
that county officials, who have seen tax revenues increase with Southern
Nevada's growth, opposed the proposal. The
proposal assures most officers a 10 percent annual pay raise, a 70 percent
increase over four years in the contribution to their health care and an
increase in the officers' uniform allowance. The
county's two representatives on the committee, commissioners Chip Maxfield and Rory Reid, joined Thomas in killing the
proposed contract. Last week, the county appointed Reid to replace
Commissioner Tom Collins on the Fiscal Affairs Committee after Collins said
he supported the contract proposal. Maxfield and Reid said the proposed 25.6 percent
increase in the cost of salaries and benefits would impair the county's
ability to fund other services, especially if proposed anti-tax initiatives
are approved and limits are placed on local-government revenue. They
said officers are not overpaid and that 80 percent of the county budget goes
to public safety, which includes the fire department, the courts, the county
jail, child-protective services, the park police and other departments. Rather
than approve the contract proposal, county officials think it's prudent to
have the pact reviewed, commissioners have said. "I'd
love to have been an advocate of Metro today, but my problem is I have to
worry about Metro and a lot of other things," Reid said. "We have
to be willing to balance all the serious needs the government is asked to
meet, and sometimes we have to say no. We are not saying 'no'. We are saying
we have concerns." The
city of Las Vegas' representatives on the committee, council members Larry
Brown and Gary Reese, supported the contract after Brown said public safety
is the voters' No. 1 concern and that it's appropriate to cut other city
services or programs to better fund the Police Department. "We
better be able to step up and pay for the best police officer possible,"
Brown said. "It's going to be tough to get the best of the best because,
even with this contract, we are not as competitive" as other departments
that are recruiting new officers. The
negotiation process, which started in February, is now expected to go to a
non-binding fact-finding process under which an objective third party will
review the positions of the union, the city and the county and recommend a
contract settlement. That closed-door process is not expected to start until
January. If
the parties involved can't agree on the recommendation, the closed-door talks
could then be forwarded to binding arbitration, under which a decision by an
objective arbitrator is final. If
the talks go to binding arbitration, union and county officials have
predicted that a final contract may not be signed until June or July, which
would mean that the officers will have gone a full year without a contract. The
defeated proposal called for the officers to receive a 3.5 percent
cost-of-living raise in the first year of the contract, which is retroactive
to July 1. Officers would receive annual 4.5 percent cost-of-living raises in
the second and third years of the contract, and a 4.25 percent raise in the
fourth year. The
pact also would require the department to pay for a 1.75 percent hike in the
officers' contribution toward their pension and annual increases in health
coverage of 10 percent in the first year and 20 percent in subsequent years
of the contract. When
a 4.5 percent cost-of-living raise and a 1.75 percent payment to each
officer's pension are added to the 4 percent "merit" or
"step" raise that two-thirds of the officers are entitled to
receive each year, an officer is in line to receive a 10 percent annual raise
based on the contract proposal. Merit raises are received automatically on an
annual basis and are not part of the contract talks. Las
Vegas police salaries ranked 57th among the nation's 200 largest police
departments, according to a May 1 analysis by policepay.net, an organization that reviews police
compensation. The salary for a Las Vegas police officer on the force for one
year is $44,695, according to policepay.net. The
10 percent increases a first-year officer would receive under the contract
would boost that salary to $48,829 in the first year of the contract, based
on calculations by the Review-Journal. That would rise to $53,834 during the
contract's second year, $59,352 in the third year and $65,287 in the fourth
year of the pact. Based
on a review of 2004 gross salaries for all Las Vegas police officers, the
average salary was $70,560 and the median salary was $69,712. Meanwhile,
the average salary for a North Las Vegas officer in 2004 was $67,818 and the
median salary was $72,266, according to North Las Vegas salary records. The
average salary for a Henderson officer was $71,604 and the median salary was
$75,776, according to Henderson records. Finest sgts. get deal - Bravest to
follow? From
the Daily News, October 20, 2005 The
police sergeants union reached a tentative contract deal with the city last
night - and New York's largest firefighters union could follow suit in a
matter of days, sources said. After
a marathon session with mediators, the Bloomberg administration and the
Sergeants Benevolent Association agreed to a tentative pact with a 10.25%
raise over 24 months, sources said. The
deal would lengthen the amount of time it takes a sergeant to reach maximum
pay, from 36 months to 48 months. But at the end of that time, a sergeant
would earn $76,403, up from $69,300. In
exchange for the pay raise, sergeants would agree to give supervisors more
flexibility in scheduling 15 of their shifts per year, up from 10. Starting
pay for new sergeants would not be cut, but base pay at the second, third and
fourth salary steps would be reduced, sources said. The
5,000 sergeants would see roughly $15,000 each in retroactive pay under the
contract, which would cover June 1, 2003, through May 31, 2005. Negotiations
would have to resume on a new deal at some point. City
firefighters also are expected to reach a deal in coming days. Under terms
now on the table, firefighters would get a 17% raise over four years, sources
told the Daily News. But
the Bravest would have to work an extra 15 hours a year, and either give up
nine hours of vacation or attend a training session on their own time, among
other potential givebacks, in exchange for the raises, sources said. Salaries
for probationary firefighters would not be touched, unlike the drastic cuts
made to the pay of rookie cops in a deal between the Patrolmen's Benevolent
Association and City Hall, sources said. Insiders
said a deal between the Uniformed Firefighters Association and city officials
could be sealed within a week - but cautioned that nothing has been signed. A
pact would mark the latest major contract dispute settled by Mayor Bloomberg
as November's election draws closer. The city's 8,900 rank-and-file
firefighters have been working without a contract since July 2002 and UFA
President Stephen Cassidy has blamed Bloomberg repeatedly for the impasse. Earlier
this month, the teachers union won 15% raises, spread over 52 months. But the
tentative deal calls for longer hours and givebacks. Cops
were awarded raises of 10.25% over two years in June for a contract covering
2002 to 2004. But an arbitration panel slashed the pay for recruits in the
Police Academy from about $35,000 to $25,100 a year. Sanitation workers cut a
deal last week, giving them 17% raises over 51 months, but cutting starting
pay for new employees from about $30,000 to $26,000. UFA,
Sergeants Benevolent Association and City Hall officials declined to comment
last night. FOP
head sees plan as 'good first step' Columbus
leaders saw a preliminary study Wednesday, recommending ways to correct
inequities in the pay of city employees. Still
some wonder where the money will come from, and when they'll have the funds
to take the next step. The
year-long study conducted by the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson
Institute of Government had no surprises, as everyone knew city workers here
typically are not paid as well as those in comparable cities in the
Southeast. The
cost of correcting those inequities is $10.2 million, money the city doesn't
have. So city leaders have asked consultants at the Carl Vinson
Institute to come up with a plan enabling them to increase workers' pay
incrementally over a period of years, using the funds they have available. Some
question whether any funds will be available. "I
don't know where the money's going to come from," Councilor Red McDaniel
said. The city hasn't been gaining enough revenue from growth in its tax
digest to cover such costs, so "the money's just not there," he
said. McDaniel
was one of five councilors briefed on the plan. The others were Gary Allen,
Skip Henderson, Jack Rodgers and Mimi Woodson. Woodson could not be reached
for comment and Rodgers declined. Others
who got to see the study were city department heads and representatives of
the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, the Fraternal Order of Police, the Police
Benevolent Association and the Firefighters Association. Randy
Robertson, president of the FOP, found the study encouraging. "I'll
be honest," he said. "We, along with the chamber and the city, were
the three groups that pressed for this plan. Looking at what we were handed
today, I was impressed." The
preliminary plan was a "good first step" in getting the pay issues
resolved, he said. Currently,
the starting salary for a police officer with a high school education is
$23,832. In the plan, that officer would make $30,152. Robertson
said the FOP was not asking that public safety workers here be the highest
paid in the state, but that they be paid fairly. "I
think this plan starts moving us in the right direction," he said,
noting the group will not be short-sighted in looking for changes. City
Manager Isaiah Hugley felt the study provided a
place to start correcting inequities: "I think we're going to have to
develop a plan that gets us there over a period of years," he said.
"I think we've first got to look at what we can afford year one, if
council will authorize money year one, and that starts the implementation.
And then we'll decide at that time the plan of action over the next several
years -- a plan that goes five years or six years that would get us to full
implementation." That
could mean starting as early as the next fiscal year, if the 10-member
council approves, he said: "I have hope that we will be able to do
something to go ahead and get the plan going." Some
councilors who saw the plan were optimistic, but that optimism was dampened
by budget limitations. "It's
a big mountain to climb," Allen said of the plan's estimated $10.2
million cost. "It's just something we're going to have to work toward,
and without knowing what the tax digest looks like for the next fiscal year,
I can't tell you what we would be able to do, what portion of it. But we're
going to do all we can." Henderson
found the study encouraging: "I left there kind of optimistic," he
said. With the consultants' help in coming up with an incremental plan, the
city over time may be able to boost pay based on the funding available, he
said. "But I can tell you, without identifying additional revenue
streams, anything we do toward that plan is going to be a mighty small
step," he said. Among
the department heads who saw the study was Rufus Riggs, the director of
Public Services. He said his department has some of the lowest-paid city
employees -- laborers making $7.18 an hour, or $14,934 a year. "That's
a person who will be cutting grass, running a weed-eater, running a
lawnmower, a person who's on the back of a pothole truck who is patching
potholes, a person who is part of a rainwater management crew who is fixing a
cave-in, digging a ditch, those kind of
things," he said. That's
a worker ranked at Grade 1, under the city's current pay scale. Those
rankings currently have 14 grades. The study recommends 29 expanded pay
grades. That's supposed to help alleviate the problem of longtime employees
reaching their maximum pay levels years before they retire. The
plan recommends starting Riggs' lower-paid workers at Grade 6, making $20,311
a year. Riggs
hopes this new plan will help. Still he understands that "funding this
is going to be challenging," he said. Police
officers get early raises From the Augusta Chronicle, October 24, 2005 Prompted by the threat of a lawsuit from Richmond County Sheriff
Ronnie Strength, Augusta commissioners voted Monday to give sworn sheriff's
officers 4 percent raises for the rest of the year and another 4 percent in
January. The raises for 500 officers will go into effect beginning with
the pay period that follows the Nov. 1 Augusta Commission meeting. Commissioners voted for the raises after a closed-door meeting,
during which they discussed a letter from the sheriff's attorney, James
Ellison of Burnside Wall LLP. Jim Wall of that firm served as city attorney for 10 years. Mr. Ellison said it is imperative the commission address the
salary problems within the sheriff's department. About 90 employees have left
the department this year for better-paying jobs in the private sector or with
other governmental agencies. There are currently 34 vacancies in Mr. Strength's office,
according to Augusta City Attorney Stephen Shepard. The raises will cost $75,000 through year's end and will be paid
from money that was budgeted for salaries of officers who have left the
agency. Mr. Ellison also asked commissioners to approve another 4
percent raise in January along with those budgeted for all other city
employees. The annual cost of the 8 percent increase will be about $1.5
million, Mr. Shepard said. "The county commission has the obligation to fund the
budget in a constitutionally adequate and reasonable amount," Mr. Shepard said. "So we have the legal duty to comply with that so we do not
have litigation as was, I'd say, threatened." The sheriff also has the authority to have an attorney to
represent him, Mr. Shepard said. Low salaries have created a problem that is threatening the
sheriff's ability to perform his constitutional and statutory duties under
Georgia law, Mr. Ellison states in the letter. "While the sheriff would like to avoid any and all
conflicts with the commission, if this problem is not addressed there may be
no choice other than to seek the intervention of the courts," he wrote. The sheriff is an elected constitutional county officer and not
an employee of the commission. Although his budgets and accounts are subject to the authority
of the commission, the board's decisions with regard to his budget may be
judicially reviewed for abuse of discretion, Mr. Ellison states, citing legal
cases in Dougherty County and Calhoun, Ga. Mr. Ellison stated that the exodus of personnel from the
sheriff's office is reaching a point at which the sheriff will "no
longer be able to perform his constitutional duties." Commissioner Bobby Hankerson said the
entry-level pay of officers in surrounding law-enforcement agencies is higher
than in Richmond County and that once officers are trained at Augusta
taxpayers' expense they leave to take jobs at those agencies. "Columbia County is getting some of them," he said.
"The state patrol is getting some of them. ..." In addition, retirement benefits in the city's 1998 deferred
compensation package are almost nonexistent, Mr. Hankerson
said. "We have nothing to offer them as far as benefits," he
said. Also on Monday, the administrative services committee approved a
request from Superior Court Clerk Elaine Johnson to reclassify personnel in
her office whose duties increased after the Georgia Supreme Court ordered the
Augusta Judicial Circuit to create a case-assignment system managed by the
Clerk of Superior Court. The committee also voted to fund four new positions in the
clerk's office next year. Taunton police agree to new pact From the Enterprise,
October 25, 2005 TAUNTON — The city has reached a
contract agreement with the Police Patrolmen's Union calling for a 10 percent
raise over three years. The contract, retroactive to July 1,
gives police 3 percent raises in the first and second years, said City
Solicitor Steven A. Torres. The third year of the contract is
split, giving police a 2 percent raise for the first
six months, effective July 1, and 2 percent in the final six months,
effective Jan. 1, Torres said. A split lessens the financial impact
on the city during the fiscal year, said Torres. Patrolman Eric Nichols, union vice
president, said the 88-member union ratified the agreement last week, and the
pact now goes before the City Council, which votes on the financial
appropriation. "Our hope is the City Council
will approve it unanimously," said Nichols. Nichols said Mayor Robert G. Nunes was "very fair to us." "The union was responsible and
aware of the city's financial limitations and interested in working jointly
with us in the future for improving manning and public safety," said
Torres. The 88-member union agreed to waive
the majority of 76 grievances that were pending, Nichols said. "Those grievances could have
cost the city potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars," said
Nichols. "We cleaned the slate of a lot
of grievances that could have been costly when you add up the awards and
attorneys' fees," said Torres. The contract has historically had a
provision requiring the losing side of a grievance to pay the winner's
attorney fees. Nichols said Nunes
inherited the grievances. Torres said the new contract has
stronger language, giving the city more rights, medical reviews and second
opinions in dealing with police officers who are injured in the line of duty. "There are significant
improvements, making it better and protecting the city's interests in getting
people back to work," said Torres. Known as 111F, the state law allows
police and firefighters to receive full pay tax-free when they are injured in
the line of duty. The city has been pushing to get injured police officers
and firefighters reviewed by doctors and back to work. Currently, the base pay for a
first-year patrolman is $37,943; for second-year patrolman, $38,488;
third-year patrolman, $40,190. Patrolmen receive one additional
vacation after 20 years, one more week after 25 years. The new contract officially approves
a policies-and-procedures manual, which will assist the city in reducing
insurance premiums, Torres said. "There have always been rules
and regulations," said Torres. Under the contract, police will also
be required to purchase dress blazers, and vacation time is increased for
officers with more time in the department. "There was a gap in vacation
between the police and fire," said Torres. Mandatory manning levels were not
part of the new contract, Nichols said. "The mayor has made it clear he
is doing everything he can to increase manning levels within the budget
constraints," said Nichols. Manning levels are management's
right. The contract was negotiated by Nunes, Human Resources Director Maria Lopes, Torres and
Police Chief Raymond L. O'Berg. The police negotiating team included
president John E. Munise III, Nichols, Steve
Turner, Robert Bianchi, Paul Taber, Mark Brady and Peter J. Corr. County sheriff deputies remain
without contract Members
of the Oswego County Sheriff’s Department are without a contract after
negotiations with county officials broke down and moved to arbitration for
resolution. "This
is the first time that we have ever gone into arbitration," said one
deputy, who asked not to be identified. The
final determination of the arbitrator will be binding, Deputy Robert Hoyt
said in a recent interview. Hoyt will take over the position of union
president in a few days. Until
a contract agreement is reached, deputies will continue to be paid at the
2003 pay scale. That pay scale, according to county payroll records, is at a
rate of $15.39 per hour. Deputies
have long been among the lowest paid county employees. According to county
records, highway employees receive between $16 and $18 per hour and some
building cleaners earn over $17 per hour. In
addition to being among the lowest paid county employees, Oswego County
deputies are actually the lowest paid law-enforcement officers in the county,
Hoyt noted. A police officer in a northern Oswego County village is earning
more than the deputies, he said. "All
we are asking for is fairness and equity," Hoyt said. He added that he
could not speak to the specifics of what the members of the Oswego County
Sheriff Association are seeking. The
road patrol is not state-mandated; however, any mention by legislators about
disbanding it has generated public opposition. The
deputies respond to crime scenes, patrol roads, and participate in
public-education programs. They are allowed to take county vehicles home with
them when off duty in order to facilitate quick response in the event of an
emergency call. The
contract is being arbitrated under a new state program initiated by Governor
George Pataki. Oswego County deputies will soon get an idea of how the
arbitration works because the Onondaga County deputies are currently going
through the process, Hoyt noted. Hoyt
said the low pay has resulted in a large turnover. He said as a 17-year
employee of the department, he is the senior deputy. Because
of the lower pay, some of the officers work part-time jobs, some as village
police officers. "We all have families to take care of, too," Hoyt
said. Oswego
County Personnel Director Maureen Sullivan acknowledged the arbitration in a
recent interview with The Valley News on the subject of county employment. City acting in bad faith on pensions,
unions say Police vote ends long
contract dispute with Westbrook From
the Portland Press Herald, October 20, 2005 (ME) The
Westbrook police union voted to accept a contract proposal from the city
Wednesday, ending a dispute that has dragged on for more than three years. Police
have been working without a contract since July 2002. Negotiations stalled
primarily over wages, health insurance and retirement. The
agreement still needs approval from the City Council. Mayor Bruce Chuluda has called for a special meeting Monday. The
two three-year contracts, one for July 2002-June 2005 and another for July
2005-June 2008, follow the recommendations of a fact-finding panel of the
Maine Labor Relations Board, according to union leaders. "We're
glad it's behind us and don't have to worry about it again until 2008,"
said John Desjardins, a detective and president of the Westbrook Police
Association. Union
members gave up their demand for a provision that would allow them to retire
after 20 years and agreed that all members, rather than only those hired
after 1999, should contribute to health insurance premiums, according to Sean
Lally, a detective and member of the union
negotiating team. Some officers do not pay for health insurance now. The
agreement would put all officers on the same state plan that allows
retirement after 25 years. "We
decided it was best to get everybody on the same page and get it over
with," Lally said. "It's gone on far too
long." The
pay of Westbrook officers would go from being among the lowest in Cumberland
County to the "high average" range, Desjardins said. Both
sides praised the work of the fact-finding board, which issued its report
last month. "It's
been the result of certainly a lot of compromise and negotiation and input
from the fact-finding board," Chuluda said. Sheriff's
union seeks pay hike But
county officials pointed to the crimp in county finances that has led to a
proposed 49 percent hike in county property taxes. They said fulfilling the
demands of the 71 officers in the Ulster County sheriff's Police Benevolent
Association would cost nearly $1.7 million more in the just the first year.
It would also open to door to unforeseen costs for higher retiree health
benefits down the road. About
a dozen union members sat in the county Legislature chambers to watch the
three-hour arbitration hearing. A three-member panel of
arbitration judges heard the case, but are not expected to issue their
findings in the case before the end of the year. The
union has been without a contract since the previous pact expired at the end
of 2002. John
Grant, the Albany lawyer for the PBA, told the panel of judges that the union
is seeking a 3 percent raise for 2003 and 2004, the period under contention
in the hearing. Deputies
also want officers to be able to retire after 20 years instead of 25 and
receive 100 percent county health coverage upon retirement. Kevin
Decker, an economist for the PBA, said that Ulster pays out less than many
comparable counties for its sheriff's officers. Overall, the county brings in
more sales tax and has lower property taxes than many other counties, Decker
said. He
pointed to the recent contract settlement with correction officers. "If
they want to, the county can provide a pay raise," he said; the money is
in the fund balance. But
Elayne Gold, lawyer for the county, said the
additional health insurance benefit alone would cost $1.65 million in the
first year. "You
are out of options," said County Administrator Art Smith. |
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