Ask the PBA

[Matt Puckett]

Is there a plan? Can I go see my rep and ask him/her to support it? What can I do Matt?
I do want to see it before I go and try to rally support.

We will release it soon. It will provide a slightly larger percentage for lowered paid employees regardless of years of service. We are targeting salary levels and not just years of service. We are trying to move the aggregate of troopers into the next pay bracket. Like getting troopers stuck in $30k to $40k range into $40k to $50k range and so on.

We can only propose raises for bargaining unit employees. I agree that everyone (LTs and above) missed out on raises over the years, but we are restricted by state statute from bargaining on their behalf. Last year, the Legislature took our request and modified it to include everyone. If they choose to do that again we would not oppose them. However, like our proposal addresses, the lower paid troopers need a larger raise.

[Matt Puckett]

What's funny is those LTs and Captains were troopers once. You shouldn't leave any trooper, agent, officer, etc... out when talking about raises when SLEOs have been screwed for generations here. Just my thought.... And no, I'm not either....I'm just an old low ranking SLEO.

Please see my reply to NE FL Guy. I agree with your point, but the LTs and above are not in the bargaining unit and we can only propose a raise for the bargaining unit. However, the Legislature included the LTs and above in our proposal last year and if that happens again we will not oppose it. But the lowered paid troopers deserve a larger percentage of the raise.

Matt,
Please consider taking a look at the pay disparities among the ranks. There are multiple people making less money than their counterparts that have less time in grade.
As an example I know of several instances where a Sergeant has more seniority and more time in grade than others who are earning more money and have less time on the patrol.
The problem is magnified when one examines the Lieutenant rank.
This issue has been around for quite some time and the Department does not address it.
Thanks for all you do for us!

Matt,
Please consider taking a look at the pay disparities among the ranks. There are multiple people making less money than their counterparts that have less time in grade.
As an example I know of several instances where a Sergeant has more seniority and more time in grade than others who are earning more money and have less time on the patrol.
The problem is magnified when one examines the Lieutenant rank.
This issue has been around for quite some time and the Department does not address it.
Thanks for all you do for us!

Our ten year sgt makes less than two of the recently promoted sgts. He has more time as a sgt than one of the newly promoted guys has on the FHP! There needs to be some way to reward guys who hang on!

Matt,
Please consider taking a look at the pay disparities among the ranks. There are multiple people making less money than their counterparts that have less time in grade.
As an example I know of several instances where a Sergeant has more seniority and more time in grade than others who are earning more money and have less time on the patrol.
The problem is magnified when one examines the Lieutenant rank.
This issue has been around for quite some time and the Department does not address it.
Thanks for all you do for us!

Our ten year sgt makes less than two of the recently promoted sgts. He has more time as a sgt than one of the newly promoted guys has on the FHP! There needs to be some way to reward guys who hang on!

Its called THI, a lot of Sgt skipped that extra 10%. Also some people get cad because of how expensive is to live there. I used to pay 600 for a two bedroom apt in Tampa, now I pay 1100 in south Florida. We do need some compression pay for time in service though

Matt,
Please consider taking a look at the pay disparities among the ranks. There are multiple people making less money than their counterparts that have less time in grade.
As an example I know of several instances where a Sergeant has more seniority and more time in grade than others who are earning more money and have less time on the patrol.
The problem is magnified when one examines the Lieutenant rank.
This issue has been around for quite some time and the Department does not address it.
Thanks for all you do for us!

Our ten year sgt makes less than two of the recently promoted sgts. He has more time as a sgt than one of the newly promoted guys has on the FHP! There needs to be some way to reward guys who hang on!

Lieutenants did it to themselves by walking out of the included class. Everyone knows the reason why you make Lt is to promote up the ladder not to stay a Lt, they can demote back to sgt. BTW there is not one single Lt where im at making less than 61000. There are sgts and troopers in the 30 and 40 range.

[Matt Puckett]

Matt,
Please consider taking a look at the pay disparities among the ranks. There are multiple people making less money than their counterparts that have less time in grade.
As an example I know of several instances where a Sergeant has more seniority and more time in grade than others who are earning more money and have less time on the patrol.
The problem is magnified when one examines the Lieutenant rank.
This issue has been around for quite some time and the Department does not address it.
Thanks for all you do for us!

Our ten year sgt makes less than two of the recently promoted sgts. He has more time as a sgt than one of the newly promoted guys has on the FHP! There needs to be some way to reward guys who hang on!

Lieutenants did it to themselves by walking out of the included class. Everyone knows the reason why you make Lt is to promote up the ladder not to stay a Lt, they can demote back to sgt. BTW there is not one single Lt where im at making less than 61000. There are sgts and troopers in the 30 and 40 range.

I grabbed this quote, because it captured all the comments since I last posted.

I agree there is tremendous pay disparity within the various ranks. After auditing the salaries this summer, we concluded that targeted raises are necessary to fix this disparity. However this year, we wanted to ask for another general across the board raise. We need to play catch up.

The issue that jumped out was just how many Troopers regardless of years of service are stuck in the $30k to $45K salary range. Our proposal is aimed at this issue.

We used the same salary threshold the Legislature used last year to open the negotiations. Our hope is this year's raise coupled with last year's raises will provide most everyone with a double digit % salary increase over two years. If it goes according to plan, we can really focus in on the disparity issues with targeted raises in the coming year(s).

Here's our proposal:

Florida PBA's Wage Proposal for the State Employees
Set out below is the wage proposal for the Florida PBA. The proposal covers all three bargaining units which includes the Florida Highway Patrol, State Law Enforcement Officers and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agents units. A more formalized proposal will be presented on January 24, 2014 at our scheduled negotiations.

1. Effective July 1, 2014, eligible bargaining unit employees with an annual base salary of $39,999 or less (salary as of June 30, 2014) shall receive a competitive pay adjustment of five percent (5%) to their annual base salary.

2. Effective July 1, 2014, eligible bargaining unit employees with an annual base salary of $40,000 or more (salary as of June 30, 2014) shall receive a competitive pay adjustment of four percent (4%) to their annual base salary.

3. Additionally, funds will be provided as determined by the Florida Legislature to provide discretionary one-time lump sum bonuses in an amount sufficient to recruit retain and reward quality personnel under such terms as established by the Legislature.

Information related to the proposal:
These proposals are predicated on an estimated 3300 law enforcement personnel in the bargaining unit classifications represented by the PBA. Of this number approximately 1875 officers/sergeants have an annual base salary below the level of $40,000.

The proposed five percent (5%) wage adjustment moves the affected officers to a salary which is more consistent with other state officers and more competitive with local law enforcement agencies. The cost of funding this proposal is an estimated $3.5 million dollars.

The proposed four percent (4%) proposal encompasses the remainder of the bargaining unit, approximately 1433 officers. The rationale for its rests on moving the officers to a more competitive wage position with local law enforcement agencies. The cost of funding this proposal is an estimated $2.3 million dollars.

The continuation of the lump-sum bonus is designed as a personal incentive for officers in order to reward them for work quality performance over and above that of the normal officer.

[Matt Puckett]

Matt,
Please consider taking a look at the pay disparities among the ranks. There are multiple people making less money than their counterparts that have less time in grade.
As an example I know of several instances where a Sergeant has more seniority and more time in grade than others who are earning more money and have less time on the patrol.
The problem is magnified when one examines the Lieutenant rank.
This issue has been around for quite some time and the Department does not address it.
Thanks for all you do for us!

Our ten year sgt makes less than two of the recently promoted sgts. He has more time as a sgt than one of the newly promoted guys has on the FHP! There needs to be some way to reward guys who hang on!

Its called THI, a lot of Sgt skipped that extra 10%. Also some people get cad because of how expensive is to live there. I used to pay 600 for a two bedroom apt in Tampa, now I pay 1100 in south Florida. We do need some compression pay for time in service though

I missed your post. When you look at the SGTs, the pay is really out of whack. No rhyme or reason at all. Number of reasons for it and we are looking into it now, but it maybe hard to address it all this year.

Matt,
Please consider taking a look at the pay disparities among the ranks. There are multiple people making less money than their counterparts that have less time in grade.
As an example I know of several instances where a Sergeant has more seniority and more time in grade than others who are earning more money and have less time on the patrol.
The problem is magnified when one examines the Lieutenant rank.
This issue has been around for quite some time and the Department does not address it.
Thanks for all you do for us!

Our ten year sgt makes less than two of the recently promoted sgts. He has more time as a sgt than one of the newly promoted guys has on the FHP! There needs to be some way to reward guys who hang on!

Its called THI, a lot of Sgt skipped that extra 10%. Also some people get cad because of how expensive is to live there. I used to pay 600 for a two bedroom apt in Tampa, now I pay 1100 in south Florida. We do need some compression pay for time in service though

No, it's called the guys that promoted to THI and Sgt before People First. I promoted to SGT just before the switch and received 12% for SGT. The guys peomoting to CLP received only 7%. Under People First every Clp received a full 10% and SGT 15%. Before People First the Patrol caculated the raise using the defunk step pay plan but of course wouldn't fund it! The patrol wouldn't adjust the newly promoted guys pay just before People First, I know because I asked! There are guys making more money as a sgt and have been on the patrol less time than some sgts' are making due to the extra 3% received after People First.

Thank for the help Matt and PBA, I tell you hope keeps me in FHP. I'm glad our pay issue is been addressed, i will hate to be a deputy.