Friday, November 9, 2007
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From POLICEPAY.NET, Inc., November 9, 2007
http://www.policepay.net
We have changed the POLICEPAY website. April 1, 2007, we went to a subscription only service for our database. A free subscription was offered for limited data. A paid subscription had all of the data that we have presented for the last seven years. One year ago, we stopped accepting paid subscriptions. On November 15th, the last paid subscription expires.
Starting today, we will offer the following data for free:
- Contracts we have on file, regardless of the size of the city
- All white papers and articles written by POLICEPAY
- The POLICEPAY Journal will continue to be free.
If you have a current subscription, it will still be good until January 1, 2008. At that time we will take down all of the other data on the website. We will no longer post wage scales and summaries of benefits. It is just too time consuming and expensive. We did not have enough subscriptions to cover the cost. If you want any of these items, call us for a price quote for the cost for us to prepare them.
We will only post the latest contracts that we have. If you need an older contract, you will need to call us. We do have many old contracts. If your contract is not listed and you would like us to post it, send an electronic version to charles@policepay.net. If there is a newer version of your contract than the one we have posted, you can send that also.
The contract downloads require a code, which you get online, and that is good for 36 hours. If you need to download it after that time, you will need to get a new code. You can download as many contracts, as many times, as you wish.
We are in the process of adding all of the contracts for cities not in our top 200 list. We have many for smaller agencies and departments that are not city police departments. It will take some time to get all of them on-line. If you do not see what you are looking for, keep checking back, or call us. We might be able to expedite the one you want.
City of Stamford wins on police contract arbitration
From the Stamford Times, November 7, 2007 By STEVE KOBAK
http://www.thestamfordtimes.com/
STAMFORD— A new police contract drawn up by a neutral party sided with the city on almost every issue.
An arbiter from the state board of labor relations drew up a contract, which runs out in 2009, after over two years of negotiations. The contract, drafted under Officer Michael Merenda, Stamford police's previous union president covered 2005 to 2009 but has been in arbitration since 2005.
"My faith has always been that both parties, including the police, can sit down and, in good faith, negotiate an agreement," said Dennis Murphy, the city's labor negotiator.
Murphy said the new agreement saved the city over $10 million per year, including $2.5 million.
The police union asked for a four-and-a-half percent wage increase over three years and a four-and-three-quarters percent increase in 2008.
This would lift the top pay of a patrol officer up from $59,078 to $70,620 by the contract's expiration, bringing the officers closer to the pay of their Darien and Greenwich counterparts according to the police union.
The city rejected the offer, as all other departments received a three percent yearly wage increase, according to Murphy.
"The lesson here is we're all in this together," he said. "All employees are special and no one department is more special than another. All employees work important jobs and we're all employees of the same city."
The department also asked for full health insurance coverage for officers under the age of 55 who retire after 25 years of service. The city will still pay all medical benefits for retirees over the age of 55.
The city rejected this offer, stating all other city employees contribute to their retirement and the police "currently enjoy something for free that no one else in Stamford does."
The arbiter also sided with the city's health insurance rate plan for current officers and, in 2008, instead of paying a flat rate officers will pay an 11 percent premium on their health insurance.
Sgt. Joseph M. Kennedy, president of the police union, said the next contract will be drawn up by the union and he will try to open up negotiations with the city. He voiced distrust with the state arbiter system.
"It's very heavily weighted toward the municipalities," said Kennedy. "The system has always been like this."
Kennedy wishes to move forward by beginning contract dialogue steadily and addressing current labor issues. The police union already held conversations with the labor negotiator to talk about pressing issues, according to Kennedy.
"We haven't had a formal sit-down yet," he said, "but I imagine we will."
Fort Lauderdale police officers aim for 10.5% raises
From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, November 8, 2007 by Brittany Wallman
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Lauderdale proposes 5% in contract talks
Police officers want more than twice the pay raises the city is offering, officials revealed in contract negotiations Wednesday.
Sgt. Mike Tucker, a union representative, had declined at a rally Tuesday night to say how much officers were seeking in pay raises. But at a public meeting for contract negotiations Wednesday morning, the details of the debate came out:
The city is offering police 5 percent raises for each year of the contract, but only if the union agrees to give up the existing city pension system for new employees, sending incoming officers to the Florida Retirement System.
On the other side, the police officers want 10.5 percent pay raises each of the three years, as well as a cost of living increase every year for retired officers, and no switch to a state pension program.
At Wednesday's face-off, neither side budged.
"The problem," said Fraternal Order of Police local President Jack Lokeinsky, a Fort Lauderdale officer, "is that the pledge you put on the table puts us in the middle" compared to other area law enforcement agencies. "Our officers deserve to be more than in the middle."
In an interview after the meeting, Lokeinsky gave the reasoning behind the raise request.
"The [city] manager got a 21 percent increase over 2 years. So we asked for the same thing he got."
City Manager George Gretsas' salary increased from $180,000 in 2004 to $219,000 two years later, a 21.7 percent increase.
More than 200 officers protested outside City Hall on Tuesday night that the department is losing employees because of low pay and pensions, compared to other local agencies.
City officials countered, saying that crime is down, and that the contract must be fair not just to officers, but to taxpayers.
Talks between the two sides have dragged on for months.
The contract expired at the end of September. Meanwhile, the city came to terms with its largest union, the general employees.
The general employees agreed to give up a government pension for new workers. They'll have a 401(k) plan instead, with the city contributing an amount equal to 9 percent of each employee's salary each year.
Fort Lauderdale's officers pay 7 percent of their salary into the pension investment fund, but the city's portion is much higher: 49 percent. Then when officers retire, they can receive a maximum of 81 percent of their salary as a retirement benefit until they die.
But Wednesday, Lokeinsky told the city's negotiators, including police Chief Bruce Roberts, that abandoning the city pension system isn't the answer.
"If someone has some idea to fix the plan, we're willing to consider it," said Pete Sampo, the labor attorney representing the city.
Buffalo Pay Raise For Police Approved
From WBEN, November 7, 2007
http://www.wben.com
The pact allows for a raise of more than 12% over three years and reforms the medical benefit program.
Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - The Buffalo Control Board has unanimously approved lifting the wage freeze for Buffalo Police. Officers will receive a 3.4 percent pay raise in each of the next three years.
Acting executive director Joe Stefco says state funding will cover the estimated $16 million cost. Mayor Brown is pleased but admits this still doesn't take care of a police contract going forward.
Officers gave up two man patrol cars in exchange for the raises.
POLICEPAY.NET, Inc. is a consulting firm that has been assisting in public safety contract negotiations for more than twenty years. Wea re not a labor union or a municipal league. We do not replace these organizations or compete with them. We only concentrate on one narrow niche - contract negotiations. By restricting ourselves to this single activity, we have been able to become market leaders for new and innovative approaches to contract negotiations. POLICEPAY.NET offers three levels of service. First, we provide state of the art research that covers market prices, costing, and finances. Second, we teach and assist you in your relationship with the other side, the public, and the decision makers in your community. We teach you how to deal with the expectations of your constituents as well. The third level of service includes us serving as your negotiator throughout the entire process. If you have questions about our negotiation methods or how we can be of assistance to your union, please don't hesitate to call Matt or Ron at (405) 701-8616. |
The Police Negotiator's Handbookby Ronald J. York The Police Negotiator’s Handbook, written by Ronald J. York, provides a straight-forward approach to achieving success during labor negotiations with municipal governments. Upon reading this handbook, you will find that Mr. York’s logical approach to contract negotiations will allow you to set the stage for victory at the negotiating table. The table of contents of this handbook is a step-by-step guide to the negotiations process, with the remainder of the book describing these steps and providing a path to follow throughout the process. If you plan to be involved with negotiating a labor agreement for police officers, deputy sheriffs, or even state troopers, don’t make a move until you’ve finished reading this book. A POLICEPAY.NET, Inc. publication, this handbook includes some of the material presented at POLICEPAY’s live training events. Also included in the back of this handbook is a POLICEPAY.NET discount card, good for discounts off POLICEPAY.NET services and training events. |