No ‘Stretch’ for Incumbents: Revised DEA Pact Clears a Hurdle

No 'Stretch' for Incumbents

Revised DEA Pact Clears a Hurdle

MICHAEL J. PALLADINO: Protected incumbents. The Detectives' Endowment Association has reached a new extended tentative agreement with the Bloomberg administration that further cuts benefits for newly promoted officers to finance various sweeteners for incumbent Detectives following the membership's rejection of a contract in December.

The wage accord provides the same 17 percent in retroactive raises over a lengthened 48-month and six-week period, but it allows Detectives to qualify at the shooting range while on the job and eliminates salary stretches for Third and Second Grade Detectives. It also provides Detectives with an additional $140 annual uniform allowance, bringing that total benefit to $1,120 a year.

Extend Tours for All

The sweeteners, however, will by financed by stretching the salary schedule for Detectives promoted after April 1, 2006 and by requiring the entire membership to work extended tours.

The DEA's delegates voted 148 to 4 Feb. 6 to send the modified deal back to the members for ratification. In contrast, in December DEA delegates voted 96 to 40 to approve the contract. The DEA represents 5,500 Detectives.

"This is definitely a better deal," said DEA President Michael J. Palladino, several minutes after the vote. "We were able to get rid of some of the concessions that some members found too egregious."

The DEA and the other city uniformed unions have been faced with the difficult task of matching the raises awarded by state arbitrators last June to the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association. That award was financed by drastically slashing the starting salary and pay scale for new Police Officers and other concessions. The PBA's membership has a much higher rate of attrition than Detectives, reducing the savings to the city for the same DEA pay stretch.

Under the tentative DEA agreement, which runs from Feb. 15, 2004 to March 31, 2008, new Third Grade Detectives will have to work for six years and complete seven salary steps to reach the new maximum pay rate of $72,238. Currently, Third Grade Detectives reach maximum salary, which until now was $61,670, after four years and five pay steps.

During their first seven years on the job, the stretched pay scale will cost the new Detectives more than $25,000 compared to their counterparts previously elevated to the title.

The DEA also agreed to lengthen tours for most Detectives by 18 minutes. Tours for officers assigned to the Detective Squad will be increased by 15 minutes. Previously, both the city and union said that it was impossible to change the latter unit's tours without violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

'Spreads Pain Evenly'

"We were able to get around FLSA violations," Mr. Palladino said. "It definitely spreads the pain out more evenly. That was an issue when I first spoke with the membership."

Other changes in the new tentative deal include restoring $30 the city contributes on behalf of each active Detective to the health-benefit fund. Also, the DEA was allowed to resubmit its narcotics division arbitration complaint concerning scheduling. The case has been scheduled for June 30.

The ratification vote, Mr. Palladino said, will likely be completed by mid-March. Should the deal be ratified, the average incumbent Third Grade Detective stands to collect roughly $10,000 in back pay.