PBA BLINDSIDED ON HOURS

PBA Blindside on Hours

In a cautionary tale about being careful what you wish for, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association followed its contract arbitration down a dark alley and found trouble lurking on the issue of cops' working hours.

The union, seeking to have its members get more days off while satisfying the state requirement that they be scheduled to work 2,088 hours annually, made a demand that they be given 10- or 12-hour tours, or a mix of the two, in place of the current 8-hour, 35-minute shifts.

The Bloomberg administration challenged this demand, alleging that it was a nonmandatory subject of bargaining, meaning it could be dealt with in arbitration only if both sides consented.

The hearing officer for the scope of bargaining case, Phil Maier, went a step further than the city had hoped, finding it to be a prohibited subject of bargaining, meaning it's off-limits even if both parties want it considered.

He cited a section of state law stipulating that the NYPD Commissioner has the discretion to establish working hours and that no cops are to be scheduled "in excess of eight consecutive hours" except in special circumstances.

The ruling has led to a certain amount of posturing on both sides. City officials have contended that the ruling could be viewed as giving them the power to shorten tours from the current length, which would require Police Officers to be scheduled for an additional 18 tours a year to meet the hours requirement. The PBA has countered that the ruling should mean that cops receive overtime for the final 35 minutes of their tours.

Neither claim can be taken too seriously. Morale among cops who justifiably believe they are underpaid would plummet further if the NYPD tried to take advantage of the ruling to make them work more tours. And the PBA is well aware that overtime work does not count against the mandated annual hours requirement. Given the choice of getting that final 35 minutes on overtime but also working 18 more tours, our guess is that most cops would loudly say, "No thanks."

The ruling by Mr. Maier, who heads the New York City office of the Public Employment Relations Board, is sure to be appealed to PERB itself. The need to decide that issue will further delay the contract arbitration, which already wasn't expected to produce an award until sometime next year.

It will also have the effect of delaying the negotiations of the other police unions, at least one of which would have otherwise been inclined to move forward with its own contract talks immediately after the Uniformed Firefighters' Association contract was ratified May 10.

Because of the ruling in the PBA scope case, Lieutenants' Benevolent Association President Tony Garvey finds himself in limbo regarding a provision of his last contract, which permitted a limited number of his members to work 12-hour tours and work a significantly reduced number of shifts. It is not clear whether the Bloomberg administration will try to scrap that pilot program now in order to strengthen its case in defending against a PBA appeal.

Arbitration is viewed by unions - and the PBA in particular - as an avenue worth taking when they believe that management is not being reasonable. It is not without risk, however. The scope of bargaining process was used by two different mayoral administrations during the late 1980s and early 1990s to deprive Firefighters of longstanding contractual rights to staffing guarantees, a written description of their jobs that limited the work to which they could be assigned, and a uniform allowance (which was later restored).

It now looms as, at worst, a detriment to all the police unions, and at best something that will delay their reaching new contracts while the appeal is being decided. As Mr. Garvey noted from his spot as an innocent bystander who fears becoming a casualty, it is an unhappy reminder that opting to let an outside party decide your contract means you surrender control over your own destiny.