Police contract negotiations

[gdowkpc]

In Portland, OR, we have been without a contract since July of 2002. The sticking points mostly have to do with employee contributions to the health care programs.

We are used to seeing cost of living increases every 6 months, so I have not seen one in 15 months. This has severely affected my buying power as there have been marked increases in all my insurance costs (auto, homeowners), grocery costs, and gasoline just to name a few things.

My dollar doesn't go near as far as it used to and I am not making any more money. It's a slow quicksand.

In LA, the Sheriff there had a sickout where about 200 deputies called in sick in protest of slow negotiations. We would never do that in Portland, bust this fairplay is painful.

The governement here is ginving out millions in urban renewel projects and post 9-11 projects, but they have forgotten to budget money for police. We are in our 4th year of budget cuts, so I cannot supplement my income with OT like I used to.

Currently the budget is in arbitration and is not expected to conclude until January. We expect there will be a fairly large retro check, but that is even uncertain.

The kicker is, the new contract will expire the following July and here we go again!!!1 :mad:

[Norm357]

Yall get contracts!?!?!?! Must be nice.

Norm

[Stump]

Dude, I feel for ya. Our contract expired July 2002, and we didn't get the new one until April 2003. Ours is 2 years, so we aren't in that situation you are. Just think of the check you'll be getting for back pay!!! :D

[gdowkpc]

Ours it 2 years!!! We will be without a contract for 18 months when it is all done. Then that contract will expire in 6 months.

Then I'm sure the debate about employee contributions to the heath plan will arise again.

Currently, all the other bargaining units have agreed to make the contributions. We don't think we should have to because we are low utilizers. This has been proven statistically. We use far less than all the other units.

We think it is unfair and want to break away into our own health plan. We think we can do better. But because we are low utilizers (we pay in so much but don't use it), the ciyy fears their health plan will bankrupt without us. So, they won't let us go.

Is this fair?

That's like your employer saying you must fly with brand A airline because that is who we use. Oh, and by the way, you have to pitch in some of the cost because their rates went up. Then you find an airline that will fly you at no additional cost to you, but your employer won't let you do it because they are afraid their corporate rate on the other airline will skyrocket.

Why don't they just switch airlines? Geez!

[zander_zye]

I feel for you! But in the private sector, most people haven't seen raises since 2001. My pay has gone down nearly $15K and my co-payment and insurance costs have gone up.

Union union union! Even us engineer types need representation.

[gdowkpc]

Is a raise and a cost of living increase considered the same? It's only 2%.

[mcsap]

We got a 5 yr contract with 4% per yr raise. No contributions towards our pension ( not since 1992) and no co-pay on the medical. Prescription drugs are 3$ generic or 8$ brand name. I think we made out well.

[gdowkpc]

Yes you did.

I know that the people in this country are getting screwed by insurance companies, who BTW are seeing double digit profit percentage increases every quarter.

The healthcare problem is huge, and I know I am lighting a new fire by saying this. Costs are rising.

Mal-practice insurance is on the rise. Is this because there is no cap on how much people can sue for? Is it because there are lawyers that work on a winnings contingent basis (take a percentage cut of the winnings). It's often cheaper for a doctor to settle out of court on a case he could win.

Long-story short, employers no longer want to keep increasing the amount they pay towards an employees premiums, and they are kicking the excess to the employee. This is a national trend. They expect that most industries will be practicing this in the next 10 years.

This is the sticking point with our contract. We don't want to pay, even though the rest of the bargaining units (including the fire guys), woused out and now pay.

There is a 'me too" clause in everyone's contracts that allows them to benefit from our contract negotiations if we win on healthcare. However, the clause is null if we win in arbitration. We don't think the city *could* give in because they would lose everything they gained while raping the other bargaining units.

We expect to win because every law enforcement agency on the west coast has won recently. And, the city keeps kicking back tax money to businesses (a refund check to businesses, who has ever heard of such a thing?). The city has money. They just want more. They don't seem to care about the welfare of their employees.