The Rye Police have been working without a contract since their contract with the City expired on December 31, 2008. Earlier this month, the Rye Police Association sent out a community-wide email announcing that they were organizing an “informational protest” March 9 and inviting the community to come out and show their support.

 

By Robin Jovanovich

 

The Rye Police have been working without a contract since their contract with the City expired on December 31, 2008. Earlier this month, the Rye Police Association sent out a community-wide email announcing that they were organizing an “informational protest” March 9 and inviting the community to come out and show their support.

 

Last Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Rye Police officers, their families, and supporters from forces in neighboring towns gathered on Elm Place. Officers handed out leaflets, which included a lot of information: how their compensation compares to other Westchester Police departments (officers in Harrison, Larchmont, the Village of Mamaroneck, Port Chester and Rye Brook all make at least $12,000 more in annual salary); what the labor negotiations have cost the City of Rye to-date; the reduction of manpower from 41 sworn officers to 35 and where positions have been cut (two patrolmen, the DARE and Youth Detective, two Sergeants, General Investigative Detective); and what percentage they currently contribute to their medical benefits (25 percent with a 4 percent cap factored on base salary for those officers hired since 1990).

 

Rye PBA President Franco Compagnone told the paper, “We’re looking for an amicable agreement. We don’t want to break the bank. If we’d been able to come to an agreement in 2009 or 2010, the City would have only had to spend $35,000 in legal fees, not the $300,000 it has now spent.”

 

Why did the PBA hold the event in town last weekend? “Twenty years ago we had an event like this and an agreement was signed soon after.”

 

The day before the protest, the City of Rye, which normally doesn’t talk about specifics of labor agreements when they are still in negotiation, emailed residents a financial fact sheet on City labor contracts, which provided clarification on important facts and points:

 

• The PBA has proposed a 3 percent increase for two years, a 6 percent cumulative salary increase, with no increased employee contribution to health insurance or other benefits.

 

• Under such an agreement, the top pay for a base patrolman would increase from $84,712 in 2008 to $92,567 in 2011. If this same percentage increase continues to 2013, the new base pay would be $98,204.

 

• If the cost for Health Insurance and Pension is added to the patrolman top- grade salary, the base compensation for this employee would rise to $144,630 in 2013.

 

• The cost of health insurance for a full-year family plan has increased from an annual premium of $16,524 in 2008 to $22,464 in 2013. The cost of this 36 percent increase has been absorbed by the City, since officer contributions have been capped at 4 percent of gross salary during this period. This has decreased the percentage share of total health insurance expense paid by a patrolman from a contribution rate of 20.51 percent of a family plan premium in 2008 to a 15.08 percent contribution rate in 2013.

 

• The cost for the City to maintain an officer in the New York State Retirement System has increased from a pension contribution rate of 14.5 percent of salary in 2008 (approximately $12,283 per year) to 28.4 percent in 2013 (approximately $24,058 per year).

 

• The City of Rye has proposed a fair wage increase in the range of 2 percent per year, accompanied by increased employee contributions to health insurance and a more flexible step plan for new hires. The proposal reflects the current economic realities facing the City and is consistent with increases negotiated with other bargaining units in Rye and neighboring communities.

 

The range of salary increase that is possible will depend on whether certain options are chosen, such as adding a health insurance contribution for the 12 non-contributing officers (12 current officers) or a less than full retroactive pay agreement.  Salary increases are permanent and compound with benefits such as pension, overtime, and holiday pay, which are based on salary and increase labor costs even further.

 

In the fact sheet, unanimously approved by the City Council, it is noted that the Fire Department is also working under an expired contract and that the CSEA Clerical Unit, which expires at the end of 2013, includes a wage freeze in the first 30 months and a 2 percent increase in the final six months.

 

From all appearances, the Rye Police and the City are not much closer to an agreement than they were in 2010. The matter is now before an arbitrator. To read more, visit ryepba.org or ryeny.gov.