NASSAU PBA PACT: NO LOSERS

Nassau PBA Pact: No Losers

Last week's contract arbitration award for Nassau County Police Officers was hailed by County Executive Tom Suozzi as "a radical break from business-as-usual," with the county's chief negotiator pointing out that savings under the deal reduced the cost of the pay raises to below the current rate of inflation.

Any notion that the Nassau Police Benevolent Association got short-changed, however, can be disposed of by considering one salient fact. Under the rules of the Public Employment Relations Board, no arbitration award can cover more than two years unless both sides consent. And so the union's willingness to sign off on a six-year award makes clear that it believed it provided sufficient value.

In one sense, the contract is similar to the arbitration award for the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association two years ago, in that it is very much tailored for veteran officers. Those who are already senior enough to qualify for maximum salary will get raises of 4 percent annually for each year of the pact - slightly above the inflation rate.

What might be called the added value in the package comes in the form of five longevity increases over its duration worth a total of $125 for each year an officer has on the job. For those with six years' experience, by the end of the pact their longevity pay will have risen more than 40 percent, from $1,800 a year to $2,550. For those with 20 years on the job, the increases in that differential will give them $8,500 a year in longevity money - a $2,500 increase from the old level.

Until now, that had been one of the few areas - along with the Variable Supplements Fund - where NYPD officers were better-compensated ($3,245 after five years and $6,245 after 20) than their Nassau counterparts.

There is no question that the award gives Nassau County significant savings in other areas, most notably a freeze in the $34,000 starting salary until the end of the contract and a slowing of the progression to top pay with smaller increases in annual increments and an added step on the scale so that officers don't reach maximum until they have eight years on the job.

Even so, don't expect the Bloomberg administration to be crowing that the deal will allow it to narrow the gap in compensation between the two forces. City cops may qualify for maximum pay after 5-1/2 years, but the current ceiling of $59,588 compares poorly to the $83,049 that a Nassau cop in his or her sixth year is currently making.

The award also reins in termination pay for Nassau officers, but in a way that emphasizes just how generous this benefit has been until now in comparison with the one for city cops. Nassau officers have been cashing in unused sick and vacation days worth as much as 2-1/2 times their final year's earnings when they retired; the contract award has set a cap of twice those earnings. In striking contrast, city cops who complete 20 years on the job are entitled to what amounts to the equivalent of 60 days' pay for unused vacation time; since they receive unlimited sick leave, they are unable to accrue unused sick days.

The fact that the award freezes starting pay for new officers until it jumps to $45,000 on Dec. 31, 2012 - the final day of the pact - does not necessarily create a recruiting disadvantage for Nassau even if, as expected, the current PBA arbitration results in starting salary being upgraded close to $10,000 from the current first-year pay of $28,900. The reason is that salary jumps far more quickly for Nassau cops than their city counterparts - exceeding $66,000 after just two years on the job - and any police candidate can do the math and realize that losing a few thousand dollars in the first year of service will quickly be offset. And the new maximum salary of $116,955 that will take effect on April 1, 2012 is unlikely to be approached for NYPD officers even when the PBA's contracts finally arrive up to date.

The big gap in pay developed over years in which the Republicans controlling Nassau County government courted police union support and used arbitrations as cover to provide generous wage hikes. Eventually, this largesse contributed to a fiscal crisis in the county early this decade which led to a transfer of power to Democrats.

City officials over the past three mayoral administrations have taken a tougher line in bargaining, and have persuaded arbitrators to generally hold the PBA to the same basic wage pattern that was carved out by other municipal unions. As a result, the city is prospering but the NYPD is suffering a recruitment crisis while also experiencing fairly high turnover.

The acrimonious relations between the Bloomberg administration and the city PBA have also prompted the union to insist until now on two-year contracts in arbitration. This has exacerbated the pay gap - and prevented the city from addressing its recruitment problems once they became obvious - by leaving the two sides consistently far behind in getting contract awards. The one issued in June 2005 was already 11 months out of date when it came down, and the likelihood - as the PBA continues to appeal unfavorable rulings in the current arbitration process - is that the next one, if it also is for just two years, will be two years out of date when it is issued.

Contrast that with Nassau, where the award came down six months after the prior contract expired, and where cops know what their compensation will be for the next 5-1/2 years. Nassau PBA President Gary Delaraba was not available for comment last week; then again, his contract speaks pretty well on its own.

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