Let's Go To Impasse

Read this objectively and comnpletely before you make a decision. Answer constructively and do not ridicule or otherwise act immature.

My vote is no, let's go to impasse. This is by far the worst of the three ncontracts that I have been around for. As in the first two, the City cried they had no money but then found money after we setteled to do many questionalble things.

By going to impasse we do not have much to lose and possibly a lot to gain. A special master can impose a one year contract which I doubt would be worse than what we have been offered. The plus side is that the City would have to show their cards, under oath, and prove that what they are saying in the way of not having money is true. Right now they are just blowing smoke up our collective arses and we have no way to dispute it. Under impasse, they would have to prove it to a special master and show all their cards. Impasse is also not goodfor the City as it negatively affects their bond rating. Maybe when the reality sinks in they will come back to the table and negotiate in good faith.

This contract will hurt us for the rest of our carreers. I disagree with anyone who thinks it is the best we can do. Everything about it is wrong. The giveback (5%) is ludacris. The off-duty pensionable is terrible. It will hurt you in many ways. If you are a rookie officers making $30,000 in off-duty, you will give back $3,000 a year. Over a 26 year career, that is close to $80,000 dollars!!!! If you max out on OT your last two years, that is $80,000 dollars you threw out the window. The amount of jobs available will diminish as the command staff will jump all over the available jobs to pump up their pensions. Remenber, they do not make overtime. the only way they can increase their pensions is by working off-duty. Nothing against the Command Staff but must of them are way overpaid already.


The DROP proposal is also a disaster. This is something that will only possibly benefit those who are planning to retire during this contracr. I guarantee you the City will use this as a stepping stone to eliminate the COLA completely while we are in the DROP.

I agree with you. Anyone who thinks these benefits will last thoughout their career is nuts. Just becuase the city says you have a five year drop does not mean they will not try to negotiate it out next contract. They will. The off duty thing is the sneakiest thing I have ever heard of. You really want me to give you 10% more of my earnings? The city already makes 33 cents for every dollar I make. Now you want to make it 43 cents? We will be unfairly funding the Police AND FIRE pension as they hardly work off duty. They already got a much better deal on their tentative agreement. Why didn't we bargain for the same things they did? What happened to the "ME TOO" that the last clown bargained away? The manager and the fire president have taken care of each other and we are floundering in lala land. We already lost FTO, SEVRT, and instructor pay that add up to 12.5 % while fire kept it all. Lets send a strong message to the city that we are not interested. Those of us with long careers left to go will suffer greatly if this contract passes. Lets vote no, go to impasse, and bring in a professional group of negotiators to bargain for us. Remember, we sacrificed during the super bowl and lost over several hundred thousand dollars as a union in missed overtime and off duty oportunities. For this prposed contract? I don't think so!

GIVE ME PARITY WITH FIRE, GET RID OF THE OFF DUTY BS OR REMOVE THE PENSION CAP, KEEP THE COLA ON ALL FIVE YEARS OF THE DROP AND I WILL VOTE YES. OTHERWISE IT IS THE BIG N O.

Bello is in bed with the Administration. Its so freaking obvious.

How can anybody vote for this contract? They want us to pay them 15% of what we make in off-duty and they are going to raise the rate so that we lose jobs. Here is an idea......how about raising the hourly rate to 35 and reduce the adm fee to 5. We don't cost anymore to the business but we make 5 more an hour.

If they don't remove the off duty component, you can bet your arse we will be going to impasse.

Hey Alex. Don't believe everything that the City tells you. They are full of crap and now want us to pay for their mistake.

you said Pembroke pines fire took a 30% decrease. please verify. pembroke pines police and fire have individual (each officer and each firefighter have a seperate/individual) contracts not as groups. i think they were threatened by the city, if did not sign the contract, they would get a 30% decrease.......

Impasse is no bed of roses.
We are dealing with politicians. Don't forget that. These are people who NEED to get reelected. They are running a budget deficit next year. The city has proposed to raise taxes to cover 50% and spending cuts to cover the other 50% of the deficit (which needs to be balanced by State law). If we go to impasse they now have an excuse to impose 100% of the deficit on our backs and look like heroes to the community by not raising taxes this year. Don't think these people wouldn't sell their own children for a buck. The city made a huge mistake a few years ago by giving a property tax refund to residents and failing to fund the pensions with that money. It worked out to about $300 per household (or $25 a month). This money should have been set aside to keep the promises they made to their employees (pension obligations). But since times were good, they figured things would always be that way - they won't make that mistake again. And now those same people are going to raise taxes? Just think how this will affect them politically. They are going to get slaughtered. Unless they can point to cost and spending reductions, they will never survive a tax increase in a recession. So if we do not agree to some concessions on our terms, they will impose concessions on their terms and possibly not have to increase taxes. It's just political survival. If I was the city I would be hoping for impasse so I can slash salaries, benefits, and reform the pension any way I want and not have to raise taxes. They will look like heroes and we look like selfish jerks. All they have to do is wait it out for the economy to recover (ie property values and new construction to improve) and they would have survived a bad recession without any tax increases.

Is this a great contract? No. Are we in a great economy? No. I knew this would happen when Florida voted to increase the Homestead exemption to $50k. How much did you save in taxes? Couple of hundred bucks? Well that translates to Millions to the city in lost tax revenue. So now this is combined with property tax values dropping like a rock and this is what happens. I personally do not think that impasse is a good idea because of the politics involved. At least they are willing to raise taxes a little so that we don't have to carry the whole burden ourselves.

Another NO here. The County got a great contract thanks to the PBA. If you look at their budget situation they are doing worst than us. What is their foreclosure rate compared to us? Please!!!!!

Guys don't fall for the Cities scare tactics. If you listen to Bello he makes it seem like if we go into Impasse that all of us are going to laid off and the City will hire all new officers at a 18K a year with no benefits.

The above poster is correct the County is in worst shape than us 10 fold and they got their PO's a decent contract.

The negotiating just began. We need to hold the line and not fall for the BS tactivs that they always try.

Bello. No hard fellings but you have worked out of the Chiefs office for a while. So its understandable if you feel like you can trust what the Administration is telling you.

The City has always cried PO BOY and always end up "finding the money". They gave back 300 twice and did not contribute to our pension a few years ago. Now they are in a jam and want to balance their mismanagement on our backs. I don't think so! Trust me. The Manager does not want to go to Impasse. He and Adonis have a very cozy relationship and Adonis wants to get promoted in the new restructuring that is part of this contract. Just like Bello he is looking out for himself.

Voting NO is like voting for Obama. Hope and Change BITHCES. Big Government to the RESCUE!!!!!! Spend millions more on cops and firemen - pay for it with Stimulus Package 3. The city is "HIDING" money because they don't want to pay us. Government is SOOOO good at hiding things like millions of dollars from its own employees and independent auditors. Maybe the Manager is hiding the money and Bin Laden in his garage. Quick, Jeff, go check!

What an insult! You aint getting my 15%. U already get 10 an hour for w...ing me out.