91% Approve
Detectives Ratify New Agreement

By REUVEN BLAU

Members of the Detectives Endowment Association Oct. 30 overwhelmingly ratified a four-year contract that will provide them with raises of nearly 17 percent, add 240 officers to the upper grades, and offer a $4,515 one-time annuity fund increase and $2,500 in longevity hikes.

MICHAEL J. PALLADINO: A popular deal.

The 2,619-254 tally in favor of the deal - 91 percent - marks the first time in decades that the DEA negotiated a new agreement on time, said union President Michael J. Palladino.

Follows Uniformed Deals

"The membership spoke and leadership acted," he asserted shortly after the votes were tallied. "Now that the contract is in place, the DEA and I can focus our energies 100 percent without distraction on defending our Detectives in the Bell shooting."

The contract, which will run from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2012, is consistent in its cost to the city with other uniformed union settlements that have been negotiated over the past few months.

The pact places further pressure on the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, which has arbitration hearings scheduled to start this week. The PBA is now the only police union without an up-to-date agreement and a newly negotiated contract, city negotiators have pointed out.

Under the DEA contract, all Detectives will receive 4-percent hikes effective April 1, 2008 and April 1, 2009, which is similar to the pattern established in March by the Uniformed Firefighters Association.

The contract's last two years - comparable to the Sergeants Benevolent Association's agreement reached in July - include 4-percent raises effective April 1, 2010 and April 1, 2011.

Other Gains

The DEA also negotiated added annuity boosts, welfare-fund raises, two longevity hikes for veteran Detectives, and a civil legal representation fund increase.

At the end of the agreement, a Third-Grade Detective's basic maximum salary - minus longevity, overtime, and other benefits - will be $84,508, up from the prior $72,238. The basic top pay for Second-Grade Detectives will rise to $94,962, as compared to the past $81,174. The maximum salary for a First-Grade Detective will rise to $109,002, up from $93,176.

The DEA also used .41 percent of unit value in the contract's first two years to eliminate one salary pay step for all its members. Under the deal, all Detectives will reach maximum pay after five years - a year earlier than before - and six pay steps.

The budgeted positions for First- and Second-Grade Detectives will be increased by 4.92 percent - or 240 positions - of the current bargaining unit, effective Nov. 1.

There are presently 4,500 Third-Grade Detectives, 650 Second-Grade Detectives, and 205 First-Grade Detectives.

Annuity Raises

The DEA also negotiated several other benefits. Effective May 1, 2009, the city's contribution to the Annuity Fund will increase so that all grades are equalized at the level of $5 per day per employee, the Office of Labor Relations said.

Also, effective May 1, 2011, the city will make a $4,515 one-time lump sum contribution to the annuity fund for each employee.

In addition, for retirees there will be a $100 rate increase in the city's annual contribution to the welfare fund effective May 1, 2009. For active Detectives, there will be a $100 increase to the fund, effective May 1, 2011.

The contract also includes a $1,000 increase on the 15-year and 20-year salary steps of the longevity schedule, effective Nov. 1, 2008. There will be a further $1,500 raise on those steps effective April 1, 2010.