COBA President Opts Not to Aid City vs. PBA; Seabrook Reconsiders Testifying in Wage Arbitration Case

By REUVEN BLAU

The scars left by the contract dispute between the Bloomberg administration and the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association became more evident last week after the leader of the city's Correction Officers union "backed out" of testifying on behalf of the city before the three-member arbitration panel, in the words of a mayoral spokesman.

NORMAN SEABROOK: Avoids a firestorm.

Norman Seabrook, the president of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, acknowledged during a Jan. 3 phone interview that he had contemplated taking the highly unusual step of appearing as a witness for the city's Office of Labor Relations against his fellow law-enforcement union.

PBA Struck a Nerve

"I don't appreciate any organization trashing Correction Officers, saying that we are not qualified," Mr. Seabrook said, referring to the PBA's repeated argument that its 24,000 members should be paid more because they are better-qualified and face graver dangers.

Mr. Seabrook said that he decided against testifying, though. He stressed that he hoped the arbitration panel awards the PBA 25-percent raises so that he can use his contract side letter allowing him to reopen negotiations if the police union's terms exceed his to demand a similar raise.

MAYOR BLOOMBERG: Praise won't dent pattern.

"I told the city I'd take a look at it, but I was never in to 'back out'," he remarked. "I wish the PBA gets as much as they can so that we could all go back in and say 'me too.'''

Police Officers, however, were enraged after hearing that Mr. Seabrook was set to testify, potentially setting off a new version of a battle of the badges. Some cops last week talked about no longer giving professional courtesies colloquially known as "play" to their law-enforcement counterparts in Correction.

'It's War'

"I hear it's war," one independent labor official said last week.

A text message that circulated in numerous police commands sought to stoke cops' anger by falsely claiming that Mr. Seabrook - whose union it misidentified - had already appeared on the Bloomberg administration's behalf.

WILLIAM J. BRATTON: Cops incomparable.

It stated, "The Corrections PBA President testified against us at PERB saying we don't deserve a raise. No courtesy for COs as per the PBA. Hammer them."

Messages on a Web site popular among cops, NYPD Rant, contended that officers had begun ticketing Correction Officers' cars Jan. 3, after the text message was sent. It could not be determined whether PBA President Patrick J. Lynch was aware of the text message or had any role in its dissemination.

Police Officers on the beat were also upset. "People are flaming," one Manhattan cop said. "The rumors are flying right now. If he screws us over there's going to be a backlash."

But a PBA source said the union was actually hoping Mr. Seabrook would testify, which would allow the police labor group to point out that city Correction Officers earn more than most of their colleagues throughout the nation. In contrast, the PBA has repeatedly emphasized that New York City cops get paid less than practically every other police officer in the country.

Bucking Parity

Throughout the hearings, which resumed Jan. 7, PBA attorneys and city negotiators have tried to pin down witnesses on whether they support Police Officers earning more money than any of the city's other uniformed or civilian titles.

That proved challenging for the several local elected officials the PBA called to testify on its behalf. Several of those officials, afraid of angering any constituents, wavered when directly confronted with that question, according to sources.

The issues of salary parity with firefighters and pattern bargaining have been nearly as tricky for Mayor Bloomberg, who also clearly does not want to offend any specific group, including cops.

Praised Cops

According to the PBA, the Mayor began his testimony by praising officers for helping to reduce crime to historical lows. But he stressed that that with 300,000 employees and 150 different unions, pattern bargaining was the only way to deal with salary issues, and has been the policy for decades.

The PBA's Web site synopsis of his testimony asserted that he acknowledged that the city's Sanitation Workers are among the highest-paid in the nation because of the difficulties and challenges of the job.

The city declined to comment. "Out of respect to the PERB panel, we are going to abide by the agreement that both sides made to keep issues raised in the arbitration confidential, even though the PBA hasn't kept up their end of the bargain," said mayoral spokesman Jason Post.

In October, the PBA slammed the Bloomberg administration for paying veteran Sanitation Workers nearly $9,000 more than what Police Officers receive at maximum salary.

Points to Sanit

During the period for which the PBA is seeking a contract - from mid-2004 to 2006 - the maximum salary for Sanitation Workers was $57,392, which rose to $68,354 after other incentives for collecting added tonnage were included, Mr. Lynch pointed out.

Labor Commissioner James F. Hanley has maintained the discrepancy was the result of the PBA's refusal to accept the city's numerous wage offers, while virtually all the other uniformed unions have already approved similar terms with no concessions required.

Harry Nespoli, president of the Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association, has said he wasn't "offended" by the comparison. "If they would have negotiated, their salary would have gone up, and they would probably be making more than us," he remarked in October.

As for the job requirements, Police Officers candidates, who need 60 college credits, clearly must be better-educated than any of the city's other uniformed personnel. In contrast, Correction Officer candidates must have completed 39 college credits, and Firefighters need as few as 15, while Sanitation Workers have no college requirement.

William J. Bratton, former NYPD Commissioner and current Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, noted that discrepancy when he testified on behalf of the PBA. "New York City has to be the only city in America where Sanitation Workers are compared to Police Officers," he told this paper in a subsequent phone interview. "They're totally different lines of work."

Big Task Ahead

The PBA, however, is facing the challenging task of trying to break an existing uniformed wage pattern by convincing the arbitration panel to dramatically transform how cops are compensated to make their pay competitive with that of officers in Long Island and at the Port Authority.

City negotiators have maintained that since 1898 there has been salary parity between Police Officers and Firefighters.

They have also emphasized that other extended uniformed deals are already in place and that deviating from those pattern-setting agreements could create major financial problems, since those groups all have re-opener clauses should the PBA somehow convince the arbitrators to break the pattern.