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2006 OUTLOOK FOR NEGOTIATIONS ORDER
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Romney offer would boost state police pay up to 19 percent by 2008 From the Boston Globe, December 14,
2005 BOSTON --The Romney administration has offered the state police
a contract that would increase their pay up to 19 percent by 2008, the most
generous offer to any union by the Republican governor, The Boston Globe
reported Wednesday. The offer follows two years of negotiations between the Romney
administration and the union, the only labor union to endorse Romney in 2002. The offer was narrowly rejected by rank and file troopers two
weeks ago, but top union officials, who endorsed the offer on Nov. 8, hope to
conduct another vote on the plan in the next few weeks. The offer would cover the period from Jan 1, 2004 to Dec. 31,
2008. It calls for a 3.8 percent annual pay increase. It would apply to the
approximately 1,900 state troopers on the force. The information on the offer was included in a memo from the State
Police Association of Massachusetts made available to the Globe. The offer is approximately twice the annual pay raises offered
to six other unions by the Romney administration. Because it is retroactive,
trooper's pay would jump by as much as 19 percent. "We were willing to provide more money in exchange for
meaningful management of reforms," Romney communications director Eric
Ferhnstrom told the Globe. "Our position is that it would be bad
precedent to reopen negotiations that have been concluded and we just can't
do that." State police employees make an average of about $95,000 a year.
The new contract could mean an increase of about $20,000 in the annual salary
by Jan. 1, 2008. One sticking point was a cap proposed by the administration on
the total number of hours a trooper can put in on the job each week at 85,
instead of the current 99.5. Many troopers rely on the extra hours to boost
their pay. It would also cut in half the number of sick days from 60 days
to 30 days a year and remove up to 47 troopers from teaching safety classes
and testing applicants for licenses at the Registry of Motor vehicles, jobs
the administration said could be done less expensively by civilians. San Jose
approves boosts in police pay and pensions After almost two years without a contract for police officers,
the San Jose City Council on Tuesday voted 10-1 to approve an agreement that
would pay experienced officers more than $100,000 in 2007. The contract also enables officers to retire after 30 years at
90 percent of their final salary, matching most public safety agencies in the
state. Until now, maximum pensions for officers were 85 percent of final pay. While the contract is not final until officers approve it, Don
DeMers, president of the Police Officers Association, which represents 1,344
sworn officers, said his union board unanimously backs it. Officers will vote
over the next week. Current top pay for police officers is officially $80,236, but
premium pay awarded to virtually all officers for training and holiday work
brings that to $94,000, said Alex Gurza, the city's employee relations
director. Under the contract, the base would rise to $91,000 after the final
raise, and with premiums, to $107,000. The contract increases the city's wage and pension costs for
police by $29 million by the end of its four-year, four-month duration.
Almost all the extra cost falls in the final two years. The city council considered the contract in a closed session Tuesday
morning and passed it in the afternoon with no discussion. Only Councilman
Dave Cortese dissented. ``It's surprising that such a large chunk of the whole city of
San Jose budget would receive so little public review,'' said Scott Knies,
executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association, who attended
Tuesday's meeting. Gurza said, ```We were able to achieve a compromise that
recognizes our own fiscal situation,'' that will keep the city ``competitive
in the public safety market'' in which the city must attract new officers. ``This agreement definitely recognizes that all of our unions
work together to help us,'' said Gurza. The starting point for the new contract is February 2004, when
the last contract expired and police last got a raise. In line with what
other San Jose city employee unions accepted, the contract includes no
retroactive raise for the first 16 months after February 2004, and a raise of
1.5 percent beginning July 3, 2005. Raises for the police of 5.7 percent in
July 2006 and again in July 2007 are higher than what other city employees
received in their most recent contracts. Referring to the first two years of the contract, DeMers said,
``At no other time in our history have we ever agreed to do that in the hopes
of helping the city in its financial situation.'' DeMers estimated the contract would place San Jose police pay
third or fourth in Santa Clara County. Larry Lisenbee, the city's budget director, said the contract
does not change his forecast of a deficit of $76 million in the next budget
because its cost is in line with what he expected. The additional cost in the current budget year is estimated at
$2.6 million. Next year, when the first substantial pay raise occurs, the
additional cost is expected to be $15.6 million for wages and pensions, and
in the final year, an extra $10.8 million. Pension costs are difficult to predict because they depend on
actuarial forecasts adopted by the Police and Fire Department Retirement
Board. Retirement at 90 percent after 30 years, instead of the current
85 percent, has been sought by the city's public safety unions since state
legislation passed in 1999 made it a virtual standard for cities and counties
in California. San Jose had resisted increasing its offer. But on Tuesday,
Lisenbee said, ``That horse, on having to give 90 percent, was out of the
barn a long time ago.'' Under the contract, only officers who wait to retire until July
1, 2006, can claim the 90 percent benefit after 30 years work. The contract
reaches the 90 percent differently than the straight 3 percent per year of
most public safety pensions. ``We found a way to be competitive in the market,'' said Gurza,
``but in what we consider to be a much more cost-effective manner.'' Retirement benefits are to be calculated at 2.5 percent of final
compensation for each year up to 20 years, and 4 percent for years 21 through
30. ``We didn't agree with the city on that,'' said DeMers, ``but
that was the best we could get.'' Gurza said San Jose's method means the pension cost as a
percentage of payroll will increase to about 29 percent, from 25 percent,
instead of increasing to 35 percent. Cortese said he voted against the contract because he thought
the police and firefighter retirement plan should be approved as a package,
as the city has done previously. The city also has been negotiating with the firefighters unions,
but an agreement has not yet been reached. BR Police Union endorses
contract that includes raises By
a vote of 280-7, the Baton Rouge Union of Police has endorsed a two-year
contract with the city. The
proposal, included in the 2006 budget that goes before the Metro Council for
a final vote Wednesday, calls for $4.85 million in pay raises, partially paid
with revenue from gambling. "This
includes the largest pay raise that we've ever received," Cpl. John
Gonzales, vice president of the Baton Rouge police union, said. For
rookie officers, the new pay plan will increase starting pay from $27,500 to
$29,200 per year, making it easier to lure new recruits, Gonzales said. "It's
my understanding that we now have a line of officers from other departments
wanting to come over here now," Gonzales said. Mayor-President
Kip Holden's proposed 2006 budget also includes $700,000 to initially equip
20 new police officers, according to Holden's chief administrative officer,
Walter Monsour. Long-range,
the cost of adding 20 new officers will run about $1 million, including
salaries and benefits, Monsour said. The
overall pay raises for police officers under the plan will range from 10
percent for rookie officers to 18 percent for high-ranking veterans, Monsour
said. There
are no additional pay raises in the second year of the police contract,
except for the annual cost-of-living step raises, he said. Monsour
said the Holden administration is funding the pay raise by cutting costs,
raising permit fees and parade fees to free up general-fund money and by
using $2 million in proceeds from the two riverboat casinos for recurring
operational costs. Holden
said the new police contract is not just good news for the Police Department
and his administration, but also for the general public as well. "I
did not take this vote for granted for a minute, because I know the union has
not had a contract since the (Tom Ed) McHugh administration, and I recognized
that other proposed contracts have been vetoed by the union in the
past," Holden said. The
contract and police pay, Holden said, show the commitment to public safety
that he made during his mayoral campaign in 2004. And
Holden said the 20 new officers are much needed as a result of the population
growth that has occurred in Baton Rouge in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina. In
addition to the pay issue, Gonzales said the new contract will provide a
better plan for assigning shifts to officers and a better process for
internal investigations. City, police
agree on '06 pay raise Neil Dobler
said he expects city council to approve deal From The Capital-Journal, December 10, 2005 Negotiators with the city of Topeka and the police union have
reached agreement on a 2.1 percent cost-of-living pay raise for 2006. The deal, which includes a retroactive 1.5 percent COLA for
2005, was approved by Fraternal Order of Police members, and the Topeka City
Council is scheduled to vote on the deal on Tuesday. On Friday, the union's president said both years were rolled into
one pact because the sides took so long to reach consensus. "We've been working under an old contract," said
Topeka police Sgt. Bill White, president of the FOP. "It's good to move
forward." Topeka officers, corporals, detectives and sergeants covered by
this contract would actually receive more in compensation in both years due
to automatic "step" increases in the police department's pay plan. Each year law enforcement members on contract advance one step
higher in the plan until they reach the top of their range. Acting city manager Neil Dobler said he expected the city
council would adopt the package. "It's been a long, drawn-out process, and we need to get
this one behind us and get started on the next one," he said. If the city council approves the contract, those represented by
the union would receive back pay for the 2005 COLA and step movement.
According to a memorandum on the city agenda, cost of raising compensation to
police would be $345,000 for 2005 and $690,000 for 2006. White said the latest agreement was endorsed by more than
two-thirds of the union's members. In 2001, the city and union adopted a three-year contract that
expired in 2004. That labor agreement has remained in force while a new
contract was under negotiation. Dobler and White said the goal was to begin talks early next
year on a 2007 contract. The goal is to bring union contract adoptions on
track with consideration of the annual city budget, Dobler said. All city employees were to get a 2.1 percent COLA this year. Stony Point police union
reaches 1-year agreement From
THE
JOURNAL NEWS, December 12, 2005 STONY
POINT — After a year and a half of negotiations, the Police Benevolent
Association and the town have reached an agreement on a 2005 contract. Because
of the prolonged negotiations, police officers have worked without a contract
since January 2005. "We've
been very patient," Supervisor A. Douglas Jobson said Friday. "And
they've been very patient, too." According
to the agreement, officers were given a 3.27 percent raise for the one-year
contract. Jobson
has said he wanted a one-year deal with the PBA so that the officers'
contract didn't expire at the same time as the Civil Service Employees
Association's contract. He got it. But
since the new contract ends in three weeks, the PBA will need to start fresh
negotiations with the incoming Town Board as soon as the board is ready. Jobson
said he started the negotiations with a zero increase because of the town's
difficult financial condition, while the PBA started out seeking 5 percent. "I
thought it would be really good if they could take a zero increase,"
Jobson said. "But we couldn't get that." In
the end, a mediator from the state was needed to forge the agreement, he
said. "We
weren't looking to hurt the town financially," said PBA President George
Zayas. "Both sides agreed that this was the fair way to go." Zayas
said he was also satisfied with another agreement on having the same officers
working midnight shifts. He said studies showed that rotating shifts was more
harmful to officers' health than steady midnight shifts. Currently,
officers work from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for four days, are off for two days, work
from 4 p.m. to midnight for four days, are off for two days, and work
midnight to 8 a.m. for four days. "You
never have steady eating patterns and steady sleeping patterns," Zayas
said. Based
on the new contract, two sergeants and five patrol officers will always work
the midnight to 8 a.m. shift, Zayas said. On
the new Town Board, Democrat Phil Marino unseated Republican Jobson in the
Nov. 8 election. Democrat Geoffrey Finn and Republican Stephen Cole-Hatchard
will replace two retiring Republicans, Joann Conklin and Harry
"Buddy" Lewis. "We
aren't involved with politics," Zayas said. "Whether it's Mr.
Jobson or Mr. Marino doesn't matter. We deal with whoever is there. We aren't
trying to kill the town. We try to be as fair as possible." Coral Gables
Firefighters, Police Protest Contract Negotiations City,
Union Members Have Trouble Reaching Agreement From the AP, December 13,
2005 CORAL
GABLES, Fla. -- Frustrated
over pension cuts and salary, dozens of Coral Gables firefighters and police
officers took their concerns to City Hall on Tuesday. The
city is in the midst of contract negotiations with the police, firefighters
and general employee unions, but talks are not going well. About
100 union members congregated at the commission hearing Tuesday and spoke to
the commissioners who will have to approve the contracts negotiated by the
city manager. The
union members are asking for a 5 percent salary increase for each of the
three years of the contract, plus health care and pension benefits. "All
three unions of the city are at impasse, which means the city has basically
walked away from the table from us in negotiating and has presented an unfair
and completely unjustified contract," said Eugene Gibbons, of the
Fraternal Order of Police. The
city said it has to watch cash dollars and draw a balance between services
provided and cost to residents. "We
have not reached an agreement yet but we are not over with the
negotiations," Mayor Don Slesnick said. "Things
are getting a little bit uptight. There's angst being shown on both sides
because we have some key issues that we're working on in these contracts. The
employees have not expressed an interest in moving toward the city's position
and the city has not expressed an interest in moving toward the employees'
position." If
the two sides cannot reach an agreement by the end of the year, a special
master's process will kick in after Jan. 1, NBC 6's Patricia Andreu reported.
That's where a special master will make a ruling on the contract, which will
then be sent to the commission for final approval.
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