Wage Talks Stalled
NYPD Capts. Union Files for Arbitration

By REUVEN BLAU

After several months of fruitless negotiations, the Captains' Endowment Association has petitioned the Public Employment Relations Board to declare an impasse in its contract talks with the Bloomberg administration.

JOHN F. DRISCOLL: At odds with city.

"We received a petition of impasse on Nov. 15," said James R. Edgar, PERB's executive director, during a phone interview last week.

Pact Expired in '03

CEA President John F. Driscoll declined to comment. The CEA, which represents 750 Captains, is one of the only uniformed supervisory unions without a contract for the round of bargaining covering 2003 forward.

The CEA and city negotiators have been haggling over the values of various concessions the union has offered 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 in the summer of 2004. The CEA's contract expired Oct. 31, 2003, but the group waited until city negotiators completed deals with subordinate police titles before beginning its contract talks in earnest.

Mr. Driscoll has said that he is seeking an agreement whose terms are similar to those the Lieutenants' Benevolent Association accepted in July. That contract, in contrast to three other police union pacts this round, did not reduce the starting salary for new members.

The LBA agreement, which was overwhelmingly ratified, provides 17 percent in 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 all persons in the rank.

Mr. Driscoll said that he is opposed to stretching out the salary schedule for newly promoted Captains and will look to negotiate extended tours as well.

A significant portion of the 10.25 percent in wage hikes over two years under the PBA award was offset by the reduction in the pay scale for future hires.

But the salary schedule for Captains has suffered since a prior CEA leader, Bill Kelly, was forced to make similar concessions beyond those accepted by the PBA to match that union's wage gains under a 1988 contract. After the contract problem contributed heavily to Mr. Kelly's defeat at Mr. Driscoll's hands, the union's focus was on upgrading the pay scale for new Captains - the group that bore the brunt of the concessions more than 15 years ago.

In September, Mr. Driscoll said that the union had decided against using a recently filed grievance against the NYPD concerning overtime compensation as leverage in his negotiation.