Call City Offer 'Insulting'
Stalled Wage Talks Old News to Cops

By REUVEN BLAU

Police Officers said last week that they are frustrated that contract talks between the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association and the Bloomberg administration have stalled and appear headed toward arbitration.

PATRICK J. LYNCH: Facing arbitration again.

But the officers said they have grown accustomed to waiting several years for raises and most indicated that they support the PBA's hard-line approach.

'Dragging Feet Again'

"It's gotten to the point where it's common," one officer said, referring to working without a raise. The PBA's contract expired on Aug. 1, 2004. The union and the city, his colleague added, "are dragging their feet again."

The Police Officers working in Brooklyn and lower Manhattan who commented on the wage talks all spoke on condition of anonymity, so as not to violate the NYPD's strict rules against speaking to the media without permission.

In four of the past five rounds of bargaining, dating back to 1991, the PBA's contract has been submitted to arbitration because of stalled negotiations, with only a 1994 contract reached at the bargaining table. The arbitration process has traditionally taken well over a year to resolve.

City negotiators have maintained that the wage pattern for uniformed employees was set for this round of bargaining last fall by the Uniformed Firefighters' Association's 50-month deal, which provided raises of 3 percent and 3.15 percent in its last 26 months. The earlier part of that deal replicated the two 5-percent raises the PBA won in arbitration last June covering a two-year period.

Doesn't Satisfy Lynch

But PBA President Patrick J. Lynch and the Sergeants' Benevolent Association have so far scoffed at that offer, arguing that it doesn't keep pace with inflation or include any anti-terrorism differential.

The unions representing NYPD Detectives and Lieutenants, however, have both agreed to extended 4-year contracts, noting that there has been a 100-year-plus salary parity between cops and Firefighters. A possible arbitration panel, they have said, would likely seek to maintain that tradition.

Citing that parity, most officers believe they will ultimately be receiving similar raises. "Realistically, we won't get more than 3 and 3," one cop predicted at the end of his tour. "The money and time involved [in arbitration] will be a waste."

His partner reluctantly agreed. "I'm not happy with 3 and 3," he chimed in. "I'm just disappointed in both the city and the PBA. The PBA dragged its feet and the city is throwing out ridiculous numbers."

Focus on Starting Pay

City negotiators recently offered to increase the starting pay for new cops by $10,000 a year in order to help the NYPD's struggling recruitment effort. But in return, the new cops would lose 10 vacation days and six holidays annually until they reach maximum pay after 5-1/2 years on the job.

"The Bloomberg administration would have you believe that their proposal to increase starting pay was a magnanimous gesture, but the truth is that their plan is akin to earning more money for working more days," Mr. Lynch said on the PBA's Web site. "It is a zero-sum gain proposition that ultimately devalues the job of Police Officer."

The city's Office of Labor Relations has since petitioned the Public Employment Relations Board to declare an impasse.

Cops on patrol called the latest offer "insulting" and "ridiculous." They charged that the Bloomberg administration has neglected to pay them fairly, especially in light of their added anti-terrorism duties and continued work to cut crime despite a reduced headcount.

'Screwed-Up Priorities'

"They have their priorities all screwed up," a plainclothes cop in Brooklyn contended as he made his lunch arrangements. "Even Sanitation gets more than us. They do a tough job, but garbage doesn't shoot back."

He noted that many of the 100 new officers assigned to the 70th Precinct as part of Operation Impact could probably be earning more money working in a grocery store or at some other less dangerous job. "It's insane!" he charged. "We do dangerous work. The Mayor should come out here on a ride-along and see what we have to deal with every day."

Many of the officers were also quick to point out how cops in surrounding counties were earning significantly more money. "I have a cousin in Suffolk making $102,000 a year," one cop said. "I'd have to work hundreds of hours of overtime to even come close to that."

They also noted that the long delay between contracts has resulted in large retroactive payments. "Everyone likes the big checks," a cop with 11 years on the job remarked. "But you're signing that check over to your credit card. The money is already spent."

Taxes Shrink Windfall

Last contract, he said, he received an $18,000 retroactive payment, but after taxes only pocketed $8,000.

"I understand you can't pay us all $150,000," his partner added. "But it's a little hard when you see places like Yonkers" paying its officers substantially more money.

The PBA, one cop noted, spent millions of dollars paying for attorneys and expert witnesses for the last PERB arbitration hearing. "They can't do that again," he contended. "They are doing us an injustice. It should have been resolved a lot sooner than this."

Going to arbitration again, he worried, may result in another dues increase. In April 2005, the PBA increased its membership dues by $7 per paycheck, a 35-percent hike. Mr. Lynch said that the raise was necessary to cover the cost of the last contract arbitration hearings and to offset the loss of roughly 5,000 union members since he took office in 1999.

"They are both stubborn," one cop said, referring to city negotiators and the PBA. "They have to actually want to work an agreement out."