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2006 OUTLOOK FOR NEGOTIATIONS ORDER
A COPY TODAY (It is free) (click on the Link above)
Police can
plan on extra money Extra checks reflect award of retroactive wages and benefits in
Syracuse. From The Post-Standard, December 02, 2005 Shortly after the holidays, every single member of the Syracuse
Police Department is likely to get a check for at least $1,300. The money which city officials say could be as much as $6,000
for some officers won't be a belated Christmas bonus. It will be payment for a series of retroactive wage hikes and
benefits awarded to the city police union by a state arbitrator. The new police contract is expected to cost the city about $5.8
million in this budget year alone, city Administration Director Ken Mokrzycki said. That's a problem, because the city only set aside about $5.2
million to cover pay hikes stemming from contract negotiations with all of
the city's labor unions, Mokrzycki said. "This is a third higher than what we anticipated," Mokrzycki said Thursday of the arbitrator's ruling on the
police contract. "It clearly exceeds what we have in our budget, and we
will have to go into our fund balance to pay for it." The Syracuse Common Council is expected to vote Monday on the
contract that would give the department's 490 officers an 8-percent hike over
two years. That increase is better than the officers received in the last
arbitrator's ruling, which gave them a 7-percent raise for 2002 and 2003,
city records show. An arbitrator's ruling covering the two years before that
gave the officers an 6-percent increase. Syracuse police have been working for nearly two years without a
contract. The arbitrator's decision will get them to Jan. 1, and then city
administrators and police negotiators will have to go back to the table for a
2006 contract. Dan Jones, vice president of the Syracuse Police Benevolent
Association, said the insufficient amount budgeted for police raises by the
city this year was the product of "wishful thinking" by
cash-strapped city administrators. "In one sense, you can see the city's point; it's tough
when you don't have a lot of money," Jones said. "But being a cop
in Syracuse is pretty dangerous. Officers are getting beat up all the time.
And we're still behind what the police are making in other cities; in
Rochester, Buffalo and Albany." The new deal, which covers 2004 and 2005, calls for 2-percent
raises every six months of the contract. The new salary level would be jump-started by the retroactive
paycheck, which will vary, depending on individual officer's pay rates. Base
pay for officers now ranges from $32,688 to $49,008, city budget figures
show. The arbitrator's contract also raises officers' annual uniform
allowance from $700 to $1,200, and includes a brand new benefit that could
let officers cash in unused sick days for thousands of dollars in cash when
they retire from the force. "The police historically have gone to an arbitrator and
made out well," said Bill Ryan, chairman of the council's Public Safety
Committee. "It's a serious problem. Police officers have got a tough
job, but that's not really the issue. The issue to me is,
what can we afford? We can't get the arbitrator to consider that. " Jones noted that not all new provisions in the contract favor
the officers. Officers will have to increase their monthly health insurance
co-payment from $25 to $30 month for family plans and from $10 to $15 for
individuals. Their co-payment for prescription drugs would rise from $15 to
$20 under the new deal. That's the same change in health insurance benefits city
officials are negotiating into contracts with other city unions. Teamsters calls for ouster of Serpas Union that's seeking representation of
Metro officers blames chief for rising crime and declining morale Less than a week after forcing an election that could make it
the labor union for Nashville police officers, the International Brotherhood
of Teamsters called for the ouster of Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas, blaming him for rising crime and falling morale
within the department. "It is clear that Serpas is more
concerned about Serpas than the city of Nashville,
and it's time for him to go," said Jesse Case, the Teamsters' chief
local organizer in charge of the union's push to take over as the bargaining
agent for Metro police officers. On Dec. 1, more than 600 officers went to the polls and voted to
decertify their representative group, the Fraternal Order of Police. The vote
followed a campaign by the Teamsters that tapped into many officers'
disapproval of policies enacted by Serpas since his
hiring in January 2004. Officials at both unions have pointed to the results of the
election as a clear sign of dissatisfaction with Serpas. "I think it was that low morale that drove the
decertification vote," said Brock Parks, executive director of the FOP.
"It's quite clear that (Serpas') policies, his
philosophies, his methods have spurred the dissatisfaction within the police
department." A police spokesman said Serpas had not
heard about the unions' assertions directly and would not comment. Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell said he stands behind the chief.
"The mayor supports Chief Serpas," said
Molly Sudderth, Purcell's spokeswoman. Teamsters officials
also called on the FOP to support Serpas' removal.
FOP officials declined to say whether the union would back the chief's
removal. "If there is such a move, we would have to look into the
viability of it," said Parks, the FOP's
executive director. "I don't want to jump on board of an empty plan or
promise." Parks, however, said the union agrees that changes are needed to
fix a range of issues that have repeatedly been raised by rank-and-file
officers. Officers have said Serpas is too reliant
on statistics, heavy-handed in disciplinary matters and not sufficiently
responsive to issues of officer safety. After Serpas was hired, the number of
traffic stops soared. Some Metro officers claim they're forced to write too
many traffic tickets to avoid being reprimanded. Other officers have complained about having personal police
cruisers taken away, work shifts changed and vacation days taken away for not
meeting the department's traffic citation quotas. Serpas
has denied the existence of quotas and said he merely insists that officers
put in a solid day's work. Last month, the Teamsters brought two officials from the Washington
State Patrol Troopers Association to Nashville to talk with local officers.
The troopers from Washington, where Serpas was
chief before taking the Nashville job, said officers there had similar
complaints about the chief's methods. Also last month, the FOP filed a lawsuit against the police
department claiming that Mission One — an initiative brought by Serpas that requires all officers to patrol in uniform at
least once a month — endangers the safety of undercover officers. Metro's officers will head to the polls early next year to
decide between the FOP and the Teamsters. Last year, the Teamsters were
defeated by the FOP in a similar election by just 16 votes. FOP officials have said the Teamsters make false promises to win
favor with Metro officers and that this push to remove Serpas
could be another ploy. Teamsters officials insisted
that their effort to oust Serpas is serious. "The difference between the FOP and the Teamsters is we
will fight to the end for something we believe in," the Teamsters' Case
said. "We're not going to back down from Serpas
or anybody else. The FOP needs to fight with us or get out of the way." Teamsters officials
said their campaign will promote public awareness about Metro officers'
dissatisfaction and the impact of the low morale on the city's crime rate.
Nashville has recorded 96 killings so far this year, up from just 58 a year
ago. Teamsters officials
will attend Serpas' public appearances to monitor
what he says and get their own message out, Case said. "The murder rate proves that Serpas'
method of management is a failure," Case said. "Everyone talks
about it in Nashville, no one is saying it publicly, but it's time for the
man to go." Police vote to remove FOP as their union Metro police officers voted yesterday to remove the Fraternal
Order of Police as their union after 27 years. According to an unofficial count, 634 sworn officers voted to
decertify the organization, out of 674 ballots cast yesterday. Officials said
599 votes from the 1,199 sworn officers in the department were needed to
decertify the FOP. "I was surprised at the number of police officers who would
choose to decertify the FOP," said Brock Parks, executive director of
the organization. "That just shows that the department is still deeply
divided." Parks said the FOP advised its supporters not to vote and that
the low number of voters showed that the FOP supporters have a strong
allegiance to it. Metro officials said it would take five days to make the results
of the election official. Then any group that submits a petition with
signatures from at least 30% of the sworn officers in Metro can request a new
representation election. Officials with the Teamsters union, which wants to represent
Metro police, said they planned to file a petition today. Ron Deardorff, assistant director of
Human Resources for Metro, conducted yesterday's election, which cost the
city more than $20,000. He said he wasn't surprised by the results. "Last year when we had a representation election it was
within 16 votes, and this sort of mirrors that," Deardorff
said. The FOP has battled to continue to represent officers in Metro,
but many have been won over by the organization's competitor, the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters. In 2004, the FOP beat the Teamsters in a representation election
by 16 votes out of 1,032 ballots cast. Many involved believe that yesterday's
decertification election results are a sign that the FOP might not win a
second representation election. Since last year's election, the Teamsters have mounted an
aggressive campaign to become the new bargaining agent for the department. Their efforts are part of a nationwide battle between two unions
seeking to get public safety employees into their organizations. Teamsters officials
claim that some officers are dissatisfied with the FOP because it hasn't
fought hard enough for a new pension plan that Metro officers want. Former FOP president Lt. Calvin Hullett
said this election was important for the officers who were fed up with the
FOP. It was so important to Hullett that he
took a break from his vacation in Salt Lake City, Utah, and flew to Nashville
to cast his vote. "The officers just had that feeling like the FOP had sold
them out," he said. "They want a real union. … I think it will be
up to the Teamsters to show, when they become the bargaining unit, that there
is a brighter side." "We are extremely proud of these officers that came out and
showed that they are ready to move forward," said Galen Munroe, a
spokesman for the Teamsters. Police
contract calls for pay increases From the Pioneer Press, December 8, 2005 St. Paul police employees will get a 2.5 percent pay hike under
a contract approved Wednesday by the City Council. Under the terms of the one-year deal, personnel who have been
with the department from three to nine years will receive an additional 2.5
percent increase. The contract puts the St. Paul Police Department more in line
with other metro departments, said Dave Titus, head of the St. Paul Police
Federation. Dispatchers will begin receiving the increase in January. Most
other employees' raises will go into effect in May. The council also approved a 2004-05 contract
for the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 21, which represents
much of the city's fire department. The contract — which includes only a
retroactive 0.4 percent pay increase for 2004 — was delayed after the city
and the union could not come to an agreement. An arbitrator recently sided
with the city. The city also approved contracts with trade unions calling for
workers to earn prevailing industry wages. Police
contract near to ratification From the Hampton Union, December 6, 2005 SEABROOK - The Seabrook Police Association contract is close to
being ratified, but one issue the union wanted is going before the state
Public Employee Labor Relations Board. The police union wanted a process for promotions outlined in the
new, three-year contract, according to Jeff Padallaro,
the representative for the Seabrook Police Association, Teamsters Local 633. Earlier this year, the union had filed a grievance on the issue
after Sgt. Lee Bitomske was promoted to lieutenant.
The union did not want Bitomske taken
out of his new position, Padallaro said at the
time. It wanted a clear process for promotion outlined. Both sides had agreed to hold the matter for discussion in
negotiations. At least one selectman, Cora Stockbridge, felt the issue should
not be made a part of contract talks, since it involves two separate unions.
A lieutenant’s position is within the town’s supervisory union. "One union cannot negotiate terms and conditions of another
contract," said Stockbridge. "There was no resolution to it." The union wanted the issue to go to arbitration. When the town
refused, it filed an unfair labor practice. Last month, the Seabrook Board of Selectmen filed its own unfair
labor practice charge against the union with the state Public Employees Labor
Relations Board in Concord. "There was no vote taken," Stockbridge said. "It
was discussed at times during negotiations, at other times discussed as
personnel matter." Neither Town Manager Fred Welch nor Chairwoman Karen Knight
could be reached on Monday. The PELRB filing will not affect the
new contract, which is expected to be ratified by the union and to go before
voters. City police,
fire, transit unions taking contracts to members From the La Crosse Tribune, December 8, 2005 Three unions have reached tentative agreements with the city of
La Crosse on two-year contracts, pending votes by their memberships.
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