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POLICEPAY.NET
NEGOTIATION TRAINING JANUARY 18-19 -
JULY 26-27 - Santa Fe, NM (click here for information)
Citing dissatisfaction with proposed
changes to their retirement health care plans, About 1,200 officers voted no to the contract, said Teddy
Stewart, president of the San Antonio Police Officers Association. Around 500
officers voted yes. More than 80 percent of the sworn police force voted, Stewart
said. The contract is an agreement between the city and police force that
ensures fair working conditions and other benefits. For now, the current
contract remains in place as police negotiators reconvene with city
officials. Defeat of the contract also means less leeway for the police chief
— at least, temporarily — when filling some of the department's top
positions. If passed, the contract would have allowed the chief to appoint
captains to one of two assistant chief positions. The current contract only
allows the chief to choose from one of his five deputy chiefs. "I think that it creates an atmosphere where you don't just
have five people who are eligible," Stewart said. "It kind of holds
them more accountable to the members." But he believes changes to the promotion rules had little to do
with the contract's defeat. "I think it was health care in general but more
specifically, I think it was the retiree (health care)," Stewart said,
adding that funding of the officers' retirement health care plan is a
"complicated issue." The contract proposed increasing the monthly amount officers
paid into their retirement health plan, a pool of money police and
firefighters jointly fund to ensure minimal health payments when they retire.
"I'm excited that it got voted down," said retiree Richard
Garansuay, 57. He cited both the changes to health
benefits and overall revisions in contract language as the reasons behind its
failure. The contract also included a stipulation that could have meant
retired officers who took a new job couldn't use their police insurance as
their primary health plan — instead, they'd be forced to use the insurance
provided by their new employer. "I'm happy that we are going to have to sit down or they
are going to have to sit down and redo this contract," said Garansuay, who as a retired officer cannot vote on a
contract. Now the association's team of negotiators plans to draw up a new
contract the officers can accept but that will also guarantee the retirement
health care fund won't go bankrupt, Stewart said. Until a new contract is passed, the officers will not receive
any raises. "I'm hopeful that we can get the membership together in the
next couple of weeks and figure out what issues there are, as far as the
(retirement) health care ... and get back to the table as soon as we
can," Stewart said. "It's not in anybody's interest to drag it out and not
address it." City
progresses with police contracts The Coral Gables Commission met Monday with City Manager David
Brown to help guide the administration out of a standoff with the police
union over their current contract -- and most of those present said the talks
resulted in ''substantial'' changes in the city's offer. ''Some headway was made,'' said Commissioner Wayne ''Chip''
Withers. Commissioners met privately with Brown in an executive session
-- as allowed by law -- to hear about the difficult negotiations that have
landed both parties in court as officers work
without a contract for more than a year. While the city manager has not
divulged the details that led the two sides to an impasse, the union
president says the absence of any raises for the last year -- which officers
would receive retroactively -- and a threatened lack of raises for the
following year or two are the stumbling blocks. However, Mayor Don Slesnick said the
city had not ruled out a raise for the next two years, as characterized by
the union president, but only for the first year. That's only because police
employees took back a 5 percent contribution to the pension fund worked into
their former contract, in return for what they thought would be regular
cost-of-living increases, Slesnick added. When
those never materialized to the union's satisfaction, a court ruled the money
should be returned. Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 7 President Eugene Gibbons
said that even if the city offers a 3 percent raise, it means nothing if city
leaders continue to insist on a 5 percent contribution to the pension fund. 'If I give you three apples and then tell you, `I'm taking five
away,' I've lost two apples. I have not even kept up with the cost of inflation,''
Gibbons said. ``In essence, I have gone and taken my members back in time
three years or four years. That's absolutely insane when you look at ``I know the other unions did this and did that. But in my
opinion, the other unions were absolutely nuts. I'm not going to do that to
my membership.'' Still, the mayor, the manager and three commissioners (Vice
Mayor Maria Anderson could not be reached for comment) said that changes were
made in the city-offered contract as a result of Monday's discussion. ''We gave David [Brown] a few places where we were willing to
compromise,'' Slesnick said. ''It's enhanced over what it was before, substantially
enhanced,'' said Commissioner William ''Bill'' Kerdyk,
Jr. ``We put together a proposal we felt was very fair.'' Brown also said the meeting was very productive. ``Once you get to a point where you are not making progress and
you are not authorized to offer anymore, certainly you want to sit with the
governing body and see, `OK, where can I go from
here? What direction do we want to take to come to an agreement?' ''We made a good faith effort to come up with a proposal to try
to settle this impasse,'' Brown said, without offering details because he
said he wanted Gibbons to hear them from the city. Gibbons did not know details about any new deal Tuesday but was
to meet with Gables Human Resources Director Marjorie Adler this week. Brown said the ball is now in the union's court. ''We are willing to listen to any set that would assist both
units in getting to an agreement,'' he said.
Engen
touted the proposal as an assertive plan that will bring parity to the
Missoula Police Department, which historically has been unable to compete
with other agencies statewide. In recent years, the police department has
begun to suffer from high employee turnover, even losing officers to the
county sheriff's department. Contract
gives cops raises, retirement pay while still on job The contract calls for a 3.5 percent pay increase the first year
and 3 percent the second-through-fifth years. Also included in the new proposal is a DROP (deferred retirement
option plan) program similar to a program enjoyed by 10 The city would continue to pay the officer's salary and
benefits, but neither the employee nor the city would contribute to the
retirement program. The city saves pension costs and continues the employee's health
costs. The city invests the money that it would pay into the employee's
pension fund and instead puts it in a separate fund that collects 4 percent
interest for the employee. The retiree gets the interest and the city gets the rest if the
interest figure is greater than 4 percent. The officers who enroll in DROP will not need retirement health
insurance since they already get it as a city employee. The city would not
have to hire a new officer to replace the retired officer since the officer
remains on the normal payroll. Dawn Demick, the city's human
resources director and a member of the city's negotiating team, said the city
pays an average of $1,200 a month for the health benefits for a police
officer and his or her family. The city would save $14,400 annually for every
police officer who retires and enrolls in the DROP program since it would not
have to hire a new officer and pay health benefits. The average police officer who has 5 1/2 years seniority on the
job makes $64,372 annually. The first-year police officer makes $39,400. "We save $150,000 a year for the DROP program for command
officers," said Demick. "We've been doing
that since 2001." Officers can stay in the DROP program for five years. The new contract is expected to be approved during voting this
week and on the weekend. The results will be announced Sunday evening. "We're meeting to explain the contract to our
members," said Detective Rob Kowalczyk, a
Police Officers Association official. "There is a lot more to the
proposed working agreement other than salary." City Manager Mark D. VanderPool said
the city and the police officers association have agreed to significant
health care concessions, which equates to a maximum of $1,500 per officer
annually through deductibles and co-insurance. VanderPool said the
city will save more than $1 million annually because of similar concessions
taken by all city employees. The city and POA have agreed to significant health care
concessions. Vanderpool said it equates to a
maximum of $1,500 per officer annually through deductibles and co-insurance. Under the contract that expired five months ago, the city paid
100 percent of an employee's health care coverage. Now, new officers will pay
50 percent of the cost of post-retirement health insurance coverage. The contract requires ratification by the police union and City
Council before it becomes active. City, From the Tribune-Herald, November 7, 2006 The Waco City Council tonight will vote on the city’s first
“meet-and-confer” agreement with the Waco Police Association that will govern
police pay and working conditions for the next two years. The council last December approved a process for police
association officials to bargain with city staff for such agreements. The
meet-and-confer process, authorized by the Texas Legislature in 2005, is
similar to collective bargaining but is voluntary and does not offer binding
arbitration to solve deadlocks. The agreement has been approved by a vote of
the whole department, not just association members. The new agreement, which will expire Sept. 30, 2008, guarantees
a 5 percent increase in this budget year and at least a 3 percent increase
next year. It also gives a greater pay differential to night shift employees
and allows police officer applicants to take their Civil Service examinations
in other cities. “It’s not as good as what I would like,” said police association
president Ken Reeves, a K-9 officer. “We didn’t get much of a pay increase.
. . . We really didn’t get a whole lot out of this contract.” Reeves said police association officials had asked for more pay
to help recruit and retain officers. “We really have some recruiting
problems,” he said. Reeves said the police association will work hard over the next
two years to raise city officials’ awareness of police issues. “We’re going
to try to be a little more outspoken,” he said. City Manager Larry Groth said the
meet-and-confer process is useful because it allows communication with police
officers and allows the city more flexibility in personnel issues. Cities
that have meet-and-confer processes can revise Civil Service personnel rules
if both sides agree. 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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