Captains Agree to 37% Raise over 101 Months;
Some Givebacks for Future Promotees under Deal

By REUVEN BLAU

The Captains Endowment Association July 26 reached a tentative 101-month contract that will provide members with 37-percent salary increases, partly financed by extending tours and reducing annuity benefits for new promotees.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow THE LONGEST DEAL: Captains Endowment Association President John F. Driscoll was happy with the tentative 101-month contract deal that will provide his 700 members with 37-percent salary increases, partly financed by extending tours and reducing annuity benefits for new promotees. To his right are Labor Commissioner James F. Hanley, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, and Mayor Bloomberg.

The deal, which covers four separate rounds of bargaining, is the longest wage agreement the city has ever negotiated, Mayor Bloomberg said. "This proposed contract is one that we've been trying to resolve for a long time, and I think it's fair to say that it's a product of hard work on both sides of the table," he added.

Hold the Arbitration

In April, an arbitrator was named to chair a panel set to decide the CEA's contract. But last week city negotiators and CEA President John F. Driscoll finally agreed to terms, which would provide members with 4-percent raises in each of the final four years.

The tentative deal could also place further pressure on the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, which is working under a contract that expired Aug. 1, 2004. The PBA is now the only police union without an up-to-date agreement.

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly hailed the CEA deal. "No managers that I know are more deserving of increased compensation than the managers of the Police Department," he told reporters. "They are the backbone of the Police Department."

The agreement, which still must be ratified by the CEA's 700 members, would be retroactive to Nov. 1, 2003 and run through April 1, 2011. At the end of the contract, Captains' basic maximum salary, reached after three years, would be $141,933, up from the current $103,577. With longevity, holiday pay, night-shift differential, and other benefits, the total salary would be approximately $165,000, city officials said.

A Lofty Plateau

Mayor Bloomberg noted that veteran Captains would earn as much as many agency commissioners. "I'm sure they're paid better than a lot of police chiefs around the country," he added. Top pay for Deputy Inspectors would reach $149,404 by the end of the deal, and Inspectors would get a basic maximum salary of $157,319.

Over the past two years, the CEA had been haggling with the city over the value of various concessions to match the 4.24 percent in savings the PBA generated under the attrition-based award issued by an arbitration panel in 2005 for the contract that expired a year earlier.

Mr. Driscoll had contended that the Bloomberg administration rejected offers from the union to extend tours or have new Captains work added shifts. The tentative agreements actually included those concessions, which were used to finance two 5-percent raises retroactive to Nov. 1, 2003 and Nov. 1, 2004.

Assuming the pact is ratified, Captains promoted after Sept. 1, 2007 would be working under a condensed pay scale until March 1, 2009.

Other Concessions

They would also have six fewer leave days and a $650 reduction in city annuity contributions. In addition, they would have to work an additional hour every shift, or 261 nine-hour tours for each of their first five years in the rank. The latter two concessions would not be ameliorated by the end of the contract.

The CEA was placed at a disadvantage by the PBA arbitration award issued under the aegis of the Public Employment Relations Board.

That deal, which provided cops with 10.25 percent in raises over two years, was partly financed by drastically slashing the starting salary and pay scale for future Police Officers, among other concessions. Because uniformed officers above the entry rank have a lower attrition rate than Police Officers, the city's savings from those unions' concessions amount to less, prompting the Bloomberg administration to demand added givebacks from supervisory unions such as the CEA to even out the costs.

Over the five years, the extended tours and reduced vacation time would require new Captains to work close to an added half-year of time, or 1,445 extra hours.

'Just 15 Minutes More'

Mr. Driscoll downplayed the concession, noting that Lieutenants currently work 8 hours and 45 minutes under a contract negotiated last July. "So my guys are just working 15 minutes more for five years, and then they go back to 8 hours," he said.

The union president pointed out that veteran CEA members could expect to receive $45,000 in retroactive pay.

To help fund the contract's first two 5-percent raises, the CEA also agreed to give the NYPD the right to reschedule Captains without paying them overtime rates. In addition, all members must attend one range training day on their own time. The union also agreed to drop two pending salary grievances and withdraw its hair drug testing litigation.

'A Fair Contract'

During the contract dispute, Mr. Driscoll repeatedly slammed the Mayor for "destroying" the NYPD by forcing supervisory unions to reduce pay and benefits to finance raises for veteran members, which exam-filing statistics showed deterred officers from seeking promotions.

But last week, the union president was more cordial. "First off, I would like to thank the Mayor - he helped us greatly to accomplish this record-setting contract," he said at a press conference in City Hall's Blue Room. "As the Mayor said, it was a lot of hard work, but we got to the end. It's a fair contract for the city and it's a fair contract for my members, and that's all we could have ever asked for."

The contract's third and fourth years are a slightly extended version of the pattern agreement negotiated by the United Federation of Teachers and then by the Uniformed Firefighters Association in 2005.

That portion of the CEA deal would give Captains a 3-percent salary increase retroactive to Feb. 1, 2006, and a 3.15-percent increase effective Feb. 1, 2007. The CEA used the three-month delay in those years to help fund the 4.24 percent in savings the pattern-setting PBA deal generated, Mr. Driscoll said.

Under the tentative agreement, all Captains and other CEA members would also receive 4-percent hikes effective Feb. 1, 2008 and on Feb. 1, 2009, which is consistent with the pattern established in March by the UFA.

Paid for Other Benefits

The contract's last two years include 4-percent raises effective April 1, 2010 and April 1, 2011, raises similar to the Sergeants' Benevolent Association's new agreement, which still must be ratified. The CEA used that two-month delay in each of those last two years to help fund added longevity increases, annuity boosts, and welfare fund raises.

The proposed agreement also includes a new savings enhancement similar to the union's existing tax-deferred compensation plan, which mirrors a fund first negotiated by the Lieutenants' Benevolent Association in 2006.

There would be a $168 increase per year for each member in the city's annuity fund contribution effective March 1, 2009. On that date, there would also be the establishment of a $168 per year Savings Incentive Plan on behalf of each active member who is both a member of the 457 plan and also invests a minimum of one percent of salary each year.

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. In addition, unlike a longevity bonus, the annuity fund is tax-deferred until employees begin to receive the benefit at retirement. Investment earnings on the accumulations in the annuity account are also tax-deferred.

The contract also includes a $100-per-year increase in the city's contribution to the welfare funds for active members and retirees. Benefit funds provide city workers, retirees, and dependents with an array of supplemental health benefits not covered under city-administered health insurance plans.

More Promotions

At the end of the contract, there would be a $1,500 increase on each step of the longevity schedule, a $380 per year annuity fund increase, and an additional $380 per year in the Savings Incentive Plan. Those increases would bring the city's contribution on behalf of each active member in the bargaining unit who is part of the 457 plan and who invests a minimum of 1 percent of annual salary to $548 a year.

The city also agreed to increase the number of budgeted positions for Captains detailed or assigned to the ranks of Deputy Inspector, Inspector, or Deputy Chief to 4.92 percent of the current bargaining unit.

That increase is loosely styled after a section in the pattern-setting UFA accord, which gave approximately 500 firefighters in HazMat and Rescue units a 12-percent "specialty pay" increase. The city did not include the specialty pay as part of the basic package, leading UFA President Steve Cassidy to describe it as "free money."

Dwindling Applicants

The contract's raises and other added benefits are designed to encourage more Lieutenants to take the Captain promotion test. In 1992, 99 percent of the eligible Lieutenants applied for the Captain test, Mr. Driscoll pointed out. But only 473 Lieutenants out of 1,700 eligible supervisors took the most recent exam for Captain, he said.

The added pressure placed on Captains over the past decade by the NYPD's COMPSTAT system, which judges Captains' performance based on computerized statistical models, has also made some Lieutenants reluctant to move up, the CEA leader has said.

The extended tours for new Captains, labor insiders said, would help the NYPD deal with the Captains' longstanding overtime battle.

In May 2005, the Board of Collective Bargaining ruled that the city violated the CEA's collective-bargaining agreement by failing to negotiate with the union before placing a 1,556-hour cap on the amount of comp time Captains can accumulate. The issue, the BCB concluded, is a mandatory subject of collective bargaining.

Bad Blood Lingers

Since that ruling, Mr. Driscoll had charged, the NYPD retaliated by auditing and subtracting comp time from his members that the department had previously signed off on. In response, the CEA brought another unfair labor practice charge against the NYPD. That complaint is still being worked out.

The NYPD has contended that it removed the cap on comp time in December 2001 as part of the aftermath of the exhaustive post-Sept. 11, 2001 search-and-rescue efforts. As a result of that activity, many officers in ranks from Captain to Deputy Chief accrued more than a year of comp time.

That situation has resulted in some individuals leaving the department and spending over a year on payroll as they exhaust their comp time, while continuing to hold civil service positions that cannot be filled, according to the NYPD. It also reduced the number of experienced supervisors and impinges on the department's ability to determine its staffing and scheduling needs, the department argued. To solve that problem, in April 2004 the NYPD moved to reinstate the cap. In addition, the city attempted to force Captains and other supervisors to use their comp time within 30 days.

Issue Unresolved

The BCB majority decision stated, however, that the department must negotiate with the union before implementing such a modification. The ruling suggested that the city address the matter during the contract talks with the union.

Both the city and the union maintained last week that the issue had not been resolved in the contract. "Basically the overtime stayed the same," Mr. Driscoll said. "We will be compensated in time."

At the start of the press conference, he remarked, "We are very happy with the contract. We wish we could have gotten more, but you always wish you could get more."