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Posted by: USMCMP5811

Saugus patrolmen win retroactive raise
By Chris Stevens
Wednesday, December 28, 2005

SAUGUS -- The Patrolman's Union, which has been working without a contract since July of 2002, has won a retroactive pay raise of 9.5 percent over three years.
According to an arbitration ruling handed down by the Joint Labor-Management Committee Friday, the town will pay patrolmen a 2.5 percent increase for 2003, 4 percent for 2004, and 3 percent for 2005.
"It seems like (the court) ignored everything I had to say," Town Manager Andrew Bisignani said Tuesday.
Bisignani said he is bound by the decision, and will subsequent recommendations to the Finance Committee and Town Meeting to fund the salary increases. He said that would likely happen during a special Town Meeting sometime after the first of the year.
"I will also present some options for funding," he said, declining to elaborate on where the money might come from.
The retroactive increase will cost the town approximately $173,000 according to the settlement documents. Had the arbitrator settled the contract for five years, as the union requested, it would have cost the town $304,570.
The settlement stems from nearly three years of negotiations, which broke down in May between the town and patrolmen's union. Both sides agreed on May 25 to seek arbitration.
The arbitration hearing was held in September where both town officials and union officials were able to make arguments.
While the main issue was wages, the union also had concerns about bereavement leave, stipends, uniform allowance and minimum manning.
The town took issue with the union's grievance procedures, overtime, holidays, paid absences and the deletion of a section of the contract concerning civilian dispatchers.
The union asked for wage increases that amounted to a 17 percent going back three years and ahead to 2007. The increases included the wages awarded as well as an additional 3 percent increase for 2006 and 4 percent for 2007.
The town proposed no increases for 2003-2007, asserting it was unable to pay the officers a wage because it doesn't have the money.
The union argued its request was fair, based on a settlement with firefighters in 2003, and given teachers reached a settlement for a 16 percent raise in 2003.
While the JLMC declined to determine wages for 2006 and 2007, it did agree with the town's argument that it could not afford increases for the years 2002-2005.
The JLMC determined the town has approximately $1.3 million in reserve and paying out the retroactive increases would not deplete that reserve.

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Posted by: topcop14

Thats a great. They have settled a contract that is already expired. Now the process gets to start again. I thought my union had it bad. Our last union contract settled with less then a year remaining in it and that one expired 6 months ago.

The City and town always win when it comes to retro pay. They have been earning interest on that money. Also there is no way to get retro on details. That amounts to a huge loss in pay.
Oh well I guess we will all have to work more OT and details to make up the difference.

Why doesn't the Globe do a story about cops working without contracts? When was the last time a teachers union did that? They walk off the job at the drop of a hat.

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Posted by: Buford T

Congrats to Saugus patrol for sticking to their guns. Funny what a little perseverence will do along with a "FOUND" $1.3 million in reserve. Shame on Saugus town officials, if they had been forthcoming in the first place and bargained in good faith, they would have avoided lenghty hearings and town counsel billing by the hour.

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Posted by: DANIPD

Danvers, police union settle on a contract
By Chris Cassidy
Staff writer

DANVERS — The town and its police officers announced the signing of a four-year deal yesterday, ending a long dispute that has featured picketing, political wrangling and court action.

"We're glad it's over," said police union president Dana "Mike" Hagan. "We think it's a good contract. The membership voted overwhelmingly to ratify it."

Under the deal, patrolmen, sergeants and lieutenants will receive a 10 percent salary raise plus a 22-cent bump in hourly wages over the course of four years.

The two sides actually negotiated two agreements that, when combined, will stretch from July 2003 to June 2007.

In the first year, officers will get a 1 percent salary raise retroactive to the start of the year, plus a 22-cent increase in their hourly rate at the end of the fiscal year. They will also get 3 percent raises each of the remaining three years of the deal.

Annual salaries now range from $36,061 for a first-year patrolman to $62,050 for a veteran lieutenant, not including overtime and detail pay.

"At the end of the day we came up with something I think everyone felt was satisfactory," Town Manager Wayne Marquis said. "That's the bottom line."

Selectman Michael Powers said he was elated about the news and felt the town fared well in the negotiations.

"It seemed very fair to me," Powers said. "I think everybody left the negotiating table not completely satisfied from their starting positions, so in my mind it was a good process. Ultimately, there was a give-and-take, but that should be part of any negotiation."

Police had been without a contract for 21/2 years, a period that produced tense and sometimes contentious relations between the town and its officers. In 2004, the town noticed a dramatic drop-off in the number of speeding fines patrolmen issued to motorists and filed a complaint with the Labor Relations Commission — which it lost.

Officers also voted "no confidence" in former Chief Stuart Chase during his final days on the job. Several times, the union picketed public events, accusing Marquis of unfair negotiating.

Hagan said the main sticking point was wages and the town's refusal to meet the union's request for a 3 percent raise in the first year of the contract.

Then, last month, the two sides reached a breakthrough, according to Hagan.

For the first time in months, the town and the union sat down for an all-day bargaining session outside of arbitration on Nov. 7. Afterward, both sides called the meeting "productive." In fact, it would be the last face-to-face meeting before the signing of the contract.

"That (meeting) seemed to be the turning point right there," Hagan said. "It's hard to pinpoint exactly what brought it about, but I think it was the willingness on both sides to go back to the table and spend a day and work it out."

One week before the landmark meeting, Selectman Keith Lucy brought the closed-door process into the public eye when he called for fellow selectmen to grant a raise to officers, reprimand the town manager and develop a plan to settle contracts faster. His proposal failed and sparked criticism from other selectmen.

But Hagan believes it had other effects.

"He was a big help toward getting the process moved along. ... I think what it did was bring it into public light exactly what the situation was, and it allowed people to pay more attention to it," Hagan said.

Lucy couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.

Powers said he wished the board had remained silent throughout the process and said he didn't think Lucy's comments had an impact on the town's bargaining position. The process worked, he said.

"This is absolutely the way to do it," Powers said. "You have professionals involved protecting everyone's interest, and it doesn't politicize the process at all."

Marquis said negotiations moved along after the town suggested settling a pending district court suit the union filed alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. As part of the contract deal, the union has agreed to withdraw the case.

"I think it did provide a bit of a spark and an opportunity to present it from a different vantage point," Marquis said.

The break from the bargaining table may be short-lived. The new contract will actually expire in a year and a half, and both sides have expressed interest in negotiating a new contract in a year while spirits are still high, Hagan said.

"I'm glad it's over," Hagan said. "It's a good Christmas present."



THE NEW CONTRACT

The deal reached between the town and police runs from July 2003 to June 2007.

Fiscal 2004 — 1% salary raise, effective July 2003

22 cents per hour raise, effective June 2004

Fiscal 2005 — 3% salary raise

Fiscal 2006 — 3% salary raise

Fiscal 2007 — 3% salary raise

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Posted by: dcs2244

I guess the troopers should have accepted their contract offer...as it was the "best they could get". Perseverance, folks...

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Posted by: bbelichick

That's a 10% raise with 1% retro for a year. How is that better than the MSP deal?

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Posted by: no$.10

"Why doesn't the Globe do a story about cops working without contracts? When was the last time a teachers union did that? They walk off the job at the drop of a hat.
"

Uh-Oh...you may have gotten me started about the teachers. I am now trembling as my fingers try to keep up with the violent rant which is erupting. TEACHERS, who work a grand total of 180 days per year, in my town earn 75 large. At top pay, they are making $416.00 per day, or $69.00 per hour. Please, no one tell me that they "take alot of work home", my sons go to school from 9-3, and I have tried calling the school at 3:05, just for kicks, and there is no answer, ever. We all take work home.

Yet towns and voters continually bash fire and police, claiming they don't work hard, or long enough hours. They bash cops out working details for HALF of what teachers earn on straight pay, all the while it is 15 damn degrees out! Ever see a teacher put themselves in any physical discomfort?

It is infuriating to me. The arguement is always "are you going to put a price on our children's future?" YEAH, I AM. Because you don't even have to be a very good teacher to enjoy these benefits. You can be a teacher with a suspended license. You can be a teacher when you are 65 plus years old. Some teachers have (albeit minor) criminal histories. None of these things are tolerated by police and Fire officials, so why are we worth so much less?

My heart rate has returned to normal, thank you.

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