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POLICEPAY.NET
NEGOTIATION TRAINING JANUARY 18-19 -
JULY 26-27 - Santa Fe, NM (click here for information)
Mike & cops clash in
contract standoff October 25, 2006 Mayor Bloomberg and the city's largest police
union attacked one another in a war of words yesterday, soon after the
dispute over a new contract headed to binding arbitration. "Every
other union has had creative, intelligent, hardworking, honest, open
leadership that's been able to come up with a contract with the city,"
Bloomberg said. "I have no idea why this union repeatedly has not been
able to do that." Mediation
between the city and the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association to settle the
contract covering August 2004 through July 2006 ended Friday without an
agreement. Bloomberg
again cast blame on the PBA for the cops' low starting pay - $25,100 - a
controversial result of the last round of talks. The
last arbitration decision was "forced on all of us by the PBA who
deliberately sold the unborn," the mayor charged. "That
was their choice," Bloomberg said. "And then they tried to blame
others for it." PBA
President Patrick Lynch accused the mayor of lying. "Once again
Bloomberg thinks that if he repeats a lie often enough, people will believe
it," Lynch said. "Reduced starting salary for police officers was
in the city's demands from day one. They wanted it, testified for it and the
arbitrator gave it to them, and now they have to live with it." Lynch
has said the city's offer of 3% and 3.15% raises over two years is
"lower than inflation" and "completely unacceptable." The
city has offered the union several proposals that would increase salaries to
$40,000 a year in the first year on the job. "The
real issue is that people thinking about becoming police officers look at the
potential for earnings over the long run and without competitive salaries at
all levels - starting and critical top pay - no one is going to take this
dangerous and difficult job," Lynch said. Proposal
includes leeway to fill top cop spots Passage of a new police contract this week could
mean more freedom for the police chief when choosing among officers to fill
some of the department's top positions. Other
major changes outlined in the contract — an agreement between the city and
police force that ensures fair working conditions and hammers out details
like overtime pay, educational bonuses and disciplinary processes — include
an across-the-board pay raise for officers but a significant increase in
their monthly contributions to a retiree health plan. Voting
on the contract started Tuesday and ends Thursday. Results are expected by
Thursday night, said San Antonio Police Officer Association Secretary Ervey Banda. The
proposed contract would allow any officers with rank of captain for at least
one year to apply for or be appointed to one of the department's two
assistant chief positions. Previously, only the department's five deputy
chiefs were eligible to become assistant chief. Such
were the circumstances when Police Chief William McManus made his first major
appointment in September following the retirement of Assistant Chief Jerry
Pittman. McManus
appointed then-Deputy Chief Rudy Gonzales to the spot. For
officers themselves, probably the most significant change in the proposed
contract involves the increase in their monthly contributions to the prefunded health care trust. Officers and firefighters
jointly contribute to the fund to guarantee health insurance when they
retire. The
city will pay two-thirds of a monthly contribution to the benefit. Officers
will pay one-third, the proposed contract states. For
the first time, officers with a spouse will pay a $20 monthly premium for
their active-duty health benefits, if the contract passes, said Teddy
Stewart, president of the police association. "Health
care costs have skyrocketed," Stewart said. A
number of officers at one substation voiced their plans to vote no Tuesday. "Sometimes
you're better off staying where you are," said one Central Substation
patrol officer who voted against the contract because he felt proposed pay
raises would not sufficiently cover the retiree health care payments. If
passed, the contract would also provide pay increases of 5 percent, 2
percent, 3 percent and 4 percent for all officers spread over two years. A
new provision would require retired officers who take another job after
leaving the force to primarily use the insurance provided by their new
employer. Retirees
cannot vote on contracts. "I
feel helpless," said retired officer and former union president Ronnie
Welch. "I stayed almost 33 years (with the department), thinking I don't
have to worry about health care premiums for the rest of my life." If
passed, the contract will be effective immediately through Sept. 30, 2009. A
no vote means police negotiators will reconvene with city officials and the
current contract will remain in place, Stewart said. Police
At Ease With New Pay Incentives From the
Members
of the Long Beach Police Officers Association overwhelmingly approved a
mid-contract raise package last week, and tensions in the department already
have eased. “The
day they approved it, you could just feel the pressure being let out,” Police
Chief Anthony Batts said. “It feels different
already. I’ve had officers come up to me; we’ve had folks who were leaving
say they are staying; I’ve even heard from one officer who went to Huntington
Beach say he wants to come back. “We
definitely hit the target.” Incentives
for police officers have been a hot topic since August, when Mayor Bob Foster
pushed for an enhanced retention and recruitment package as part of his
budget recommendations. Nearby cities had been recruiting experienced LBPD
officers with promises of higher pay and benefits. A
package first suggested in September included immediate raises for the entire
department as well as a 4% hike for officers with more than 15 years of
seniority. But
that offer was turned away, and City Attorney Robert Shannon ruled that even
a one-sided offer constituted reopening of contract negotiations and required
union approval. On
Oct. 6, the City Council endorsed a new plan that offered more to senior
officers early in the remaining three years of the contract. The new deal
gives officers with more than 10 years’ service an additional 5% now, with
another 5% on Oct. 1, 2007, for officers with 15 years or more of service. It
also accelerates raises for the entire force, with a 2% hike (on top of an
already-scheduled 3% raise) on April 2008 and 3% in April 2009. The current
contract also calls for a 6% across-the-board raise in April 2007. Steve
James, president of the POA, conducted a series of meetings and votes last
week. He said the vote was 95% in favor, with just 28 no votes. The
entire package is expected to cost an estimated $10 million, including $2.1
million this fiscal year. The council formally approved the deal Tuesday
night, but also indicated they are aware the city’s other unions also are
looking for — and deserving of — raises. At
the request of the personnel and civil service committee, the council asked
City Manager Jerry Miller for a review of the city’s recruitment and
retention strategies for all city employees, including extending a mortgage
assistance program now offered to police officers to all employees. Police
union votes against contract From the Times, October 20, 2006 The vote took place Tuesday and
Wednesday and failed by 539 to 268, nearly 2-1. It applies to officers, detectives,
corporals and sergeants, said police spokeswoman Laura McElroy. In a separate 16-5 vote, police
lieutenants approved a contract for themselves that's nearly identical to the
one the police union voted down. Police Benevolent Association president
Kevin Durkin said he hasn't talked to enough officers to be certain about the
reasons for the rejection, but speculated it had to do with pay and officer
evaluation procedures. The previous contract, negotiated in
2003, expired Sept. 30. Under the previous contract, officers
made $40,456 to $65,728 and sergeants $65,728 to $80,662. Under the contract rejected Wednesday,
salaries would have increased over three years to $45,108 to $73,287 for officers
and $73,287 to $89,938 for sergeants. Police, city settle new
contract Fremont
City Council set to approve agreement Tuesday From
Fremont
Police Association members earlier this week voted to accept the contract,
albeit "very reluctantly," said Officer Glenn Miller, the union's
president. "We're
not happy about it because we feel there were no other options, given the city's take it or leave it attitude," Miller added.
"So we took (the deal) for the benefit of the (association)
members." The
terms include a 2.9 percent cost-of-living adjustment, effective immediately;
a 10 percent increase in medical benefits, effective Jan. 1; and a one-time
allowance of $800 for safety equipment for each officer. The
deal will draw more than $550,000 from the city's general fund this year,
said Kathy Ito, Except
for the equipment allowance, the terms match what city staff members
initially offered police officers in June, and it also equals what other city
bargaining units received in their new contracts. "The
bottom line is that we got what everybody else got," Miller said. He
has argued that lower-than-average salaries for This
year, most The
labor agreement ended several months of squabbling between police and city
staff members, including a declared impasse in July that later led toa failed bargaining session with a state mediator. When
talks further stalled, officials said the City Council might be forced to
impose contract terms on both sides — which would be unprecedented in "Both
sides can be commended for staying with it," Ito said. "It was
tough, but we just kept plugging away. We're glad to be working together with
them." But
the labor peace might not last long. The
contract for the department's roughly 175 officers expires in less than six
months. "Due
to the city's financial uncertainty, we wanted to do something short-term
until we had a better understanding of the situation," Ito said. City
officials have said that Fremont's finances will improve at least slightly if
voters on Nov. 7 pass Measure L, a utility users tax that may generate about
$8 million annually over six years. But
Ito said that none of the short-term labor contracts this year was connected
to next month's election results. "It doesn't factor in to my role as a
negotiator," she said. Calling
the protracted negotiations "a sign of the times," Mayor Bob
Wasserman said he expects council members to approve the tentative contract
at their meeting on Tuesday. Finger pointing continues
in police contract dispute Tensions
were clearly running high Thursday as each side sought to put its spin on the
situation during a news conference Mayor Richard
Cortez called at City Hall. City
officials claim the last offer they put on the table Wednesday included a 3
percent annual pay increase in each of the next two years and a retroactive
increase in retirement benefits beginning Jan. 1, 2007. That
retroactive increase would be achieved with updated service credits that
would apply the current employer-employee retirement contribution rate of 18
percent to the salary at which an officer retires — as if the officer had
earned that same salary and had that same contribution rate throughout his or
her entire time as a "The
cost to the taxpayers of this offer is over a million dollars of new
money," said Cortez, who was not at the negotiating table Wednesday.
"Unfortunately, the members of the police union bargaining team rejected
this offer, which the city considered to be very reasonable." The
union, however, disputed that the city made that offer — and said it wasn’t
very attractive even if the city did make it. "Their
last offer was a 3 percent raise the first year, updated service credits the
second year and no raise the second year — which is different that the last
written offer I got," said police union president Sgt. Mike Zellers. That
written offer included a 3.5 percent pay increase the first year, a 3 percent
pay increase the second year and updated service credits that would take
effect Jan. 1, 2007, according to the Sept. 26 letter Zellers received from
City Manager Mike Perez. A
total of 218 officers, or about 84 percent of all Even
assuming the city’s final offer Wednesday was the one it said it made, it’s
still less than the earlier written offer that the officers voted down,
Zellers said. "If
they voted against that, I can’t see how they would vote for less than
that," he said, explaining that retirement contributions remain the
sticking point in its negotiations with the city. Under
the current plan, officers contribute 6 percent of their salary to the
retirement plan, and the city contributes 12 percent, for a total
contribution of 18 percent. The officers have been pushing to increase their
contribution to 7 percent, which would boost the city’s 2-to-1 contribution
to 14 percent, for a total contribution of 21 percent. Cortez
disputed that the city came down from its earlier offer. Zellers
explained that the union is seeking a commitment from the city to increase
retirement contributions to the same level as other cities in the The
two groups started collective bargaining talks 10 months ago but have been
deadlocked since an April 27 meeting. The
union sued the city on Aug. 24, claiming the city broke state law by not
engaging in "substantive and meaningful" contract negotiations and
mediation. The
current contract ran out Sept. 30 but was extended until Oct. 24 by state
district court Judge Aida Salinas. "We’re
going to court Monday," Zellers said. "We’re going to ask the judge
for a permanent injunction to keep our current contract in effect — the terms
of it in effect — until a new contract is signed." So
what does the sequel to this ongoing saga have in store? Well,
for starters, the police officers plan to take their case directly to the
people, Zellers said. The
officers are putting together a petition for a city charter amendment that
would establish an impasse procedure for the city’s contract negotiations
with the police and fire departments. "If
we come to impasse like this where we can’t agree on a contract, then a panel
of independent hearing examiners would come in, and they would decide the
contract, and their decision would be final and binding on both
parties," Zellers said. To
get the charter amendment on the ballot as a referendum, the officers must
gather the signatures from 5 percent of the city’s registered voters, or at
least 4,000 signatures, he added. He hopes to put the question to voters
during the May election. CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS POLICEPAY provides
complete contract negotiations for your bargaining unit. We will:
Our fee will be a fixed
amount that is agreed to up front. The
fee will include all costs, even travel and hotels. There will be no surprises. We offer options with no up front
payment. You can make equal monthly
payments. If your contract is 36
months, you will make 36 monthly payments. During the term of the
contract, we will:
If we are not able to
reach an agreement with your city, we will provide arbitration services at no
additional cost. We intend to get an
agreement. Our approach to contract
negotiations is different than what you are probably used to. We engage in non-confrontational
negotiations that rely on developing relationships. However, we do not use so called “win-win”
negotiation. It’s a loser for
you. There will be no unfair labor
practice complaints filed by us or lawsuits and grievances. If that is what you are wanting you need to
call the usual knucklehead lawyers that have been screwing up police
negotiations for years. Intimidation
and blustering are not in our arsenal. If you prefer to
negotiate yourself we can provide any of the services listed above, with the
same payment plans, only at lower rate.
If this is the way you want to go, you need to attend one of our
negotiation seminars. The upcoming
seminars are listed on our website. For more information,
give us a call at (405) 234-2235, or contact POLICEPAY.NET Your
Ultimate Solution For Contract Negotiations |
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