'Fighting Unjust Mayor'
PBA Gives Lynch, Slate 4 More Years

By REUVEN BLAU

Despite protracted contract negotiations with the city that have yet to produce a wage deal, Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch and the top officers on his slate were unopposed for new four-year terms.

PATRICK J. LYNCH: Combative approach popular.

"New York City's 24,000 active Police Officers have given us a mandate to continue to fight against an unjust administration that stands in clear violation of the Taylor Law for failing to pay New York's Police Officers a competitive market rate of pay," Mr. Lynch said in a statement.

Others Re-Elected

The other officers on his slate who were re-elected without opposition are: John Puglissi, first vice president; Mubarak Abdul-Jabbar, second vice president; Joseph Alejandro, treasurer; Robert Zink, recording secretary; and Brian Mooney, citywide trustee.

Some borough races for Trustee and Financial Secretary are being contested, according to the PBA. Voting in those elections will take place at the end of the month.

In 1999, Mr. Lynch became the youngest PBA president in the union's history. He has taken a hard-line approach to bargaining with the city, which has three times led to lengthy arbitration proceedings.

That process has been costly and produced mixed results. 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 dues-paying members since he took office.

Frustrated But Loyal

Many cops have expressed frustration that they have been working under an expired contract since Aug. 1, 2004. But officers have also said they have grown accustomed to waiting several years for raises, and most have indicated that they back the PBA's bargaining approach.

Beginning last May, the Bloomberg administration made two offers to the PBA that would have raised starting salaries by about $10,000. But the city also demanded that new officers accept reductions in leave time and some differential pay, concessions the PBA rejected.

The Uniformed Firefighters' Association last week ratified a contract that included similar benefit givebacks to offset the cost of raising future Firefighters' starting pay to $35,000. Mayor Bloomberg has maintained that the wage model for uniformed employees was set for the round of bargaining at issue in the PBA dispute in the fall of 2005 by the UFA'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 in June 2005 for a two-year period.

City negotiators contend that the later UFA raises would significantly increase the starting salary and maximum pay for police officers, eliminating the union's contention that there is a need to structurally change how cops are compensated based on other jurisdictions.

Philosophical Gulf

But Mr. Lynch has continually scoffed at making concessions and questioned the legality of pattern bargaining, which he has pointed out is not mentioned in the Taylor Law.

Police Officers have supported the PBA's hard-line approach to continue pursuing a new contract via arbitration, despite the just-ratified Firefighter accord, which temporarily places cops' maximum salaries even further behind their uniformed counterparts.

Under the UFA deal, as of Aug. 1 Firefighters will reach the $68,475 maximum pay after five years on the job. That figure is $8,887 more than the $59,588 maximum salary cops currently earn after 5-1/2 years of service.

Since 1898, city negotiators have noted, there has been salary parity between Police Officers and Firefighters, as well as with various titles in each department. The PBA, however, is hoping to change that tradition, contending that its members' salaries should be based on what other agencies in surrounding counties pay their cops.