Preserves Pay Scale
LBA Members Okay Pact With 17% Hike

By REUVEN BLAU

Members of the Lieutenants' Benevolent Association have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a contract that will give them 17-percent raises over 50 months and 16 days, part of which will be financed by requiring newly promoted Lieutenants to work 13 additional tours and extending shifts for incumbent supervisors.

TONY GARVEY: Members vindicate his judgment.

The final tally by the American Arbitration Association showed 1,309 for - 92 percent - and 109 against.

'Vindicates Our Work'

"I'm pleased," LBA President Anthony Garvey said during an Aug. 2 phone interview. "I think it vindicates the job we did in this round of bargaining."

The proposed agreement includes two other unique features: a pilot voluntary 12hour tour for platoon commanders in eight specified precincts, as well as a new savings enhancement similar to the union's existing tax-deferred compensation plan.

The LBA decided against stretching the pay scale for new Lieutenants, as many of the city's other uniformed unions have this round of bargaining. "It was the 'lesser-of-two-evils' doctrine," Mr. Garvey remarked. "When you go to pay rent, you can't say let me give you a $500 check and two chart days."

According to the LBA leader, the salary schedule would have had to have been stretched to 10 years in order to match the 4.24 percent in savings the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association generated under the attrition-based award issued by an arbitration panel last summer. "The membership recognized that it was certainly the best deal we could have achieved," he said.

Widest Margin in Years

The approval rate, he pointed out, was the highest for a contract since Mr. Garvey was first elected in 1991. "The contract before this one passed by 15 votes," he remarked. "The irony is, that contract had raises of 5 percent and 5 percent with no givebacks."

The longer tours, which Mr. Garvey and Labor Commissioner James F. Hanley hailed as monumental, will enable Lieutenants to make more than 60 fewer appearances each year.

Lieutenants will receive a 5-percent hike retroactive to the first day of the contract, June 16, 2003. They'll get another 5-percent hike retroactive to June 16, 2004. The last two years of the tentative con tract provide a 3-percent raise effective July 31, 2005, and a 3.15 percent increase effective July 31, 2006.

New Lieutenants will still reach the maximum salary after only three years on the job. The new starting salary is now $84,156 and the maximum pay is $93,177. The previous starting pay was $71,846 and maximum salary was $79,547.

Other Benefit Gains

Also, effective July 31, 2007 the city will contribute a one-time lump-sum payment of $427 per active member to the annuity fund. On that date, uniform allowance will be increased by $120 a year.

The city will also pay $300 annually to the newly created Savings Incentive Plan for each active member who invests at least 1 percent of his or her salary per year in the 457 plan. According to Mr. Garvey, a major advantage of the 457 plan as opposed to the existing 401(a) plan is that there is no early withdrawal fee for officers under 59-1/2 years old.

To finance those raises and benefits, however, Lieutenants promoted after Aug. 1 will have to work 13 additional tours each year for their first seven years on the job. Under the tentative agreement, new Lieutenants will have to work 229 days a year. In contrast, incumbent officers in the pilot program working extended tours will only have to work 155 12-hour shifts.

Tours 10 Minutes Longer

Also, all non-pilot-program Lieutenants will be required to work an additional 10 minutes each tour, meaning 8 hours and 45 minutes. Most Lieutenants, Mr. Garvey said, already work the additional time. Now, however, they will not receive overtime compensation for those minutes.

In addition, the department will be permitted to reschedule Lieutenants to work an additional five days and six named holidays without paying overtime salary rates.

The LBA had been seeking to establish extended tours for years but could never agree with the city on the ground rules of the program. Under the plan, after six months, factors such as fatigue, use of leave, effect on overtime costs, and supervision will be evaluated by the NYPD and a labor-management committee. Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly has the ability to discontinue the program at any time during the pilot.

Lieutenants can expect to receive their new biweekly salary rate in their Sept. 8 paychecks, Mr. Garvey said. "We hope to see the retroactive pay added in the Sept. 22 check." The average Lieutenant stands to receive $23,000 in back pay, he said.