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Arbitrator gives police union everything it wanted in a contract and more
By adamg on Fri, 09/27/2013 - 11:27pm
The Globe reports an arbitrator sided with the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association on the issue of pay raises and benefits.
The city says the union was seeking about 21.5% increases in salary and benefits increases over six years; the arbitrator said its members deserve more than 25%. If the city council rejects the award, the two sides would go back to the bargaining table - which is what happened with firefighters in 2010.
Both mayoral candidates issued statements. Marty Walsh said he doesn't believe in arbitration and that he would just sit down with union bargainers and bargain until both sides agreed to a contract fair to both union members and taxpayers. John Connolly said he wants to read the arbitrator's decision and meet with the city CFO and union leaders before deciding what to do next.
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Comments
4 percent a year
That's kind of a lot more than usual. Are the cops currently being underpaid?
Boston Police pay was reduced
Boston Police pay was reduced by an average of 10 to 12 percent three years ago, the only public employees to take a pay cut. So, if you factor that reality into the equation the the pay "raise" from the starting point of the contract period is closer to 13 to 15 percent, consistent with other (teachers etc) agreements. Also the BPD are among the lowest paid in the metro-Boston area currently. The officers have, however, delivered a 30% reduction in crime over the past few years!
Exactly how was the pay reduced?
Are you talking about the loss of the super-expensive, never-should-have-happened Quinn bill benefits?
Welcome to the real world
People in the private sector go without guaranteed pay raises.
Plus one must earn their merit increase. No one should be getting a pay raise without performance to match.
private sector real world reality check
In the real world not everyone working in the private sector who deserves a raise based on merit gets it. Furthermore, PLENTY of people get raises who don't deserve it and did nothing to earn it.
Evidence please
Police took a cut? I am not directly disputing the claim but I don't remember reporting of that.
Crime is down by 30%? What I've read is that certain kinds of crime have decreased while others have decreased. I think I read that violent crime decreased but property crimes increased. In any case whether a decrease in any crime is a result of some kind of police activity deserves explanation if for no other reason than to understand how to keep potential criminals from committing crimes.
So how have the BPD reduced crime by 30%?
Of course Marty doesn't like arbitration
Giving his donors what they want at the bargaining table is so much more efficient!
But seriously, I think any issue that reminds voters that unions contracts are a major part of what the mayor does plays to Connolly's favor. No matter how the Walsh camp spins this, it's going to be a tough sell, especially if he keeps taking the outside union money.
public and private unions
Marty worked for the building trades, which is a private union. The unions the city negotiates contracts with on behalf of employees are public unions.
The strategy Marty discussed, make the deal without going to arbitration, is sound. The arbitrator gave the police more than what they asked for!
Marty's negotiated building trades contracts in the private sector representing the union. That is valuable experience. If we hire him, he's the guy with experience on the other side of the table.
Outside money? As in Wal*Mart
Outside money? As in Wal*Mart's, "Stand For Children" the largest anti teacher union super PAC in the country right? Who gave Connolly money he gladly accepted until he realized people were watching.
"...the arbitrator said its members deserve more than 25%."
OK, why not 30% or 50%? Or higher? This heroism stuff knows no bounds, so why not 200% or more? How high is up, anyway?
Do
peopletaxpayers who aren't public employees see just how bad this is...and will be for a good long time?The police and fire unions play the City big-time, with their tug-of-war, "we want what they got or more" negotiation style.
Meanwhile, taxpayers get no bargain at all, just lots more pain, and any other City unions get crumbs at the negotiation table. But we Boston residents are comfortably numb under the warm blanket of shenanigans and sweet deals perpetuated since who-knows-when by the unholy alliance between the City pols and the public-sector unions (especially BPPA and Local 718, cops and jakes respectively).
Yet many readers will take this comment as disrespectful of the union membership collectively. It isn't. Unions != union members.
Remember this stuff on Election Day 2013.
Also, check this out -- www.psrf.org.
As the
sunCity sinks slowlyin the westinto Massachusetts Bay,...Boston will somehow manage to best Detroit on this, don't you think?
Edited 10-1-2013 to fix link
I'd prefer the city spend the
I'd prefer the city spend the extra 80 million a year on more patrolmen, detectives, and lab techs to improve the presence and case clearance rate in gang infested neighborhoods. The lack of manpower to do the job properly is a biggest issue of officer and public safety than padding retirement benefits.
It is about 14 million a year.
The BPD can't get enough qualified people to fill the vacant spots already, and you want to add more unqualified people to help case clearance rates?
People need to realize that qualified people (those without criminal records and can pass a basic 6th grade reading comprehension exam) aren't lining up to become police officers in Boston.
You absolutely
Need a PhD to man a detail, particularly ones located on dead end streets
What's your point?
Even the uneducated don't want to become Boston police officers, what does a phd have to do with it?
I'm in my 20's
Do you know how many kids I grew up with who have good educations (not bps) and have passed that exam with a 99%+. Not a f*cking peep from bps. It's not a shortage of candidates, it a reluctancy to hire. Every April those exams are packed.
Shit I know three kids I graduated from college with who took the exam, only one was selected. However he told them to fly a fucking kite and went into the private sector.
You are a liar. (Or your friends are)
They have hired scores from the high 80s (white applicants) for the last 15 years. Minority and veteran applicants have reached the low 70s.
20 years ago there were hundreds of 98s and 99s that got skipped. He'll, the city just accepted transfers for the first time in the history of the department a few years back because of the lack of applicants.
How many years has it been since Boston police ....
... last got a pay increase. It looks like the previous contract expired over 3 years ago. I assume no raises since tthen. So pay increases over the next 6 years would be "making up" for no raises for at least 3 years. So maybe one needs to divide the 25% by 9 rather than 6.
WTF
The average Boston police officer earns an annual salary of nearly $110,000 — $10,000 of which is for “time not worked,” according to city documents obtained by the Herald. - See more at: http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverag...
Do you believe everything you
Do you believe everything you read in the herald? I hope not. I can assure you that if a cop stays 30 minutes late, they aren't paid for 4 hours and I challenge that reporter to prove me otherwise.
As for the 4 hour time not worked? This has nothing to do with being a cop. It's a WHD labor law for most hourly workers (and first responders are protected by the FLSA). If you show up for 2 hours and there's no more work or you show up and work is cancelled, you're guaranteed 4 hours ( there are some exempt occupations).
Did the Herald spend this much time reporting after cops who paid their own way through college (and therefore didn't work many details) didn't get what the contract promised them? Did they say the "average pay cut" was 7%. Why didn't they mention that "average" since more cops took pay cuts than cops who make 110,000 or more? To be clear, the majority of cops didn't get the Quinn bill and weren't affected but if this Herald reporter uses the word average so loosely, why wasn't it used then?
Listen, if you disagree with the arbitration agreement, that's fine, assuming you're privy to all the details. Just don't go quoting articles from the Herald to back yourself up. You can't believe everything you read.
Party !
Roids on me bro!
Who are these arbitrators?
Who's on the panel that gave the police such an exhorbitant raise? That should be made transparent!
Cop or Criminal. Which pays more?
Legal extortion called details + 25% raise. People choosing to commit economic crimes really are fools. They could be raking in the dough for a lot less hassle and stress by being cops. Why bother with gang feuds, prison time, short life spans for what ultimately amounts to small change compared to what they can earn being a cop in Boston?
The city must be rolling in cash. It's about to spend millions on rebuilding the Johnson building (after spending millions on the McKim building), will pay cops a massive amount of money in raises, which will result in commensurate pension increases and increases in overtime rates (which tax payers, people who drink water, use electricity, gas and communications services all pay) and will most likely need to find a new set of patronage jobs for the incoming mayor.
No need to recalculate the property tax rate; just take my entire pay check.
Will the city bail me out when I can't afford my mortgage because the governmental costs of city living exceed what I earn?
Ahh what the hell
Still not going to cost you that much anon. How much in taxes do you actually pay?
Hey Pete
Aren't you a boston cop who also decided to screw out of the city.
You mean I chose to live where I want?
Although I'm not in that union. I like the freedom of living where I want, and I have children who need services that the BPS cannot provide to my satisfaction. I still own property in boston and pay property taxes there (although not nearly as much as I do in the town I live in)
Something is fishy here....
If you want to deal with real data you can look at the 2011 payroll. or the 2012 payroll., which is less informative. Note the column headers on "total" and "base" appear to be reversed for 2012.
Correct me if I am wrong:
Isn't the BPPA union also the union that Boston EMS is a part of?