By DAVID A. MANN
David.Mann@newsandtribune.com
JEFFERSONVILLE —
Police and fire unions representing public safety officers in Jeffersonville have voted to accept offers made by the Jeffersonville City Council.
The contracts — one with Jeffersonville Firefighters Local 558 and the other with Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 100 — add up to about a $300 increase in base pay for members of the unions. Presidents of each union announced the results of contract votes during a joint press conference Tuesday.
“Our officers risk their lives every day,” said Joe Hubbard, police union president.
Despite that risk, hard hours, public criticism and other hazards “our members love Jeffersonville and believe in the process,” Hubbard said
The raises will take effect in 2011. Had the deals not been approved, the next step likely would have been binding arbitration, as stipulated in the 2009-10 contract.
“Arbitration would have cost the City of Jeffersonville thousands of dollars,” Hubbard said. “In a year when citizens have lost so much, we didn’t think it was fair for them to lose more.”
The police union voted 48 to 10 in favor of the contract. It covers more than 60 officers. An official fire union total was not available at press time. That contract covers about 65 union members.
“In these economic times, we understand that everyone should pitch in, tighten our belts to allow the growth of the city,” fire union President David Kaskie said in a written statement. “While we always hope for a larger increase, we realize that other citizens within our community are unemployed and going through tremendous economic hardships.”
The recent negotiations were stipulated as a part of the last contract. And for the first time in recent memory, talks took place in a public meeting of the city council. In years past, contracts have been negotiated behind closed doors, by a small council committee.
Hubbard commented that while he has no problem with government transparency, “the negotiation process has been unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m very pleased, very appreciative that they seriously came to the table and considered all sides of the issue,” said Jeffersonville City Council President Nathan Samuel, who led negotiations for both contracts.
Initially, the unions asked for much more than they received. Fire union leaders asked the council to close a $266,754 wage gap between fire and police salaries — which, divided among the 65 members, would have amounted to a $4,103 annual increase to the $44,675 base pay.
Police union leaders had proposed 4 percent raises, a $500 bonus for officers who passed a fitness test, $100 per officer per year for the FOP gym and two hours of compensation time per week for fitness.
“We just put all our cards on the table and said ‘this was where we are,’” Samuel said. “It feels more like we’re trying to move ahead as a team.”
FOP FITNESS
Because of the way the 2009 contracts were written, the FOP renegotiated its fitness clause and the fire union did not. Changes to the FOP fitness clause included adjustments to the number of push-ups and sit-ups required for each age group of union members participating in the fitness tests.
There also was a clause added that allowed for officers with a documented medical condition — such as an injury — to be cleared from the test until they were able to do it.
However, even at this point there’s still confusion about whether officers can be fired for failing the test. Hubbard noted that language saying that an officer can be terminated for failing the test was taken out of the contract union members voted on and that the Police Merit Commission would decide on disciplinary action.
Samuel said the old contract’s language on termination — which said an officer hired after January 2010 has three tries to pass the test and those that can’t would be referred to the Police Merit Commission for possible termination — was still in the new contract.
