Contract Update

I am happy to report that the FOP and City have come to an agreement and the FOP Lbor Board has accepted the City's last offer and we will be bringing it to a vote beginning on January 15th, 2010.
There will also be a special meeting in conjunction with the January 14th, 2010 Monthly Meeting at the POA Hall, where we will be presenting it to the body.
The most significant changes from last offer are:
1. Court Standby is Back as originally. The only difference is the 4:30 notification time as opposed to the 24 hour notification time.
2. Court call in rate will stay at 2 hours. City originally proposed an increase to 3 hours.
3. Holidays will be paid in 8 hour increments at straight time. City proposed to pay at 1.5 times.
These 3 listed above things were "given back" but never would of been realized until/if the contract was accepted and ratified. By agreeing to what we originally had, we were able to keep Court Standby!
4. Non-Duty Disablity will stay at 70%
5. Road Patrol Officers/Sgts will vote on the option of a 11.5 hour or 8 hour day. All other units will saty on 8 hour days at the discretion of the Chief.

All other pension benefits(7 year DROP, Military Buyback, Increase to 300 hours from 43 hours for OT in your pension, Disability conversion) have not been touched as negotiated, as well as no benefits were REDUCED nor was there an increase in your contribution. The city has 90 days to get State approval for the 2nd Tier, and if they are unsuccesful, the 2nd Tier will not happen.

The STEP plan is in place along with a 3% and 3% raise in years 2 and 3. There will still be a 1 year salary freeze but those officers in the STEP(66), they will receive 2 STEPS in 2010/2011(One on your anniversary date and one on 03/29/2011) and another STEP on your anniversary date in 2011 along with a 3% raise. If you top out in year 2 or 3, you will be made whole(22 officers).

The proposed Healthcare Plan is the same but the city is going to be renegotiating with United to lower the Premiums as well as secure potential discounts on prescriptions. The new city clininc will also be opening in April which will have no co-pays and reduced prescriptions.
I anticipate emailing everyone early next week with a summary of these changes along with the whole proposal as before.

THE LABOR BOARD STRONGLY URGES EVERYONE TO VOTE YES ON THE PROPOSAL!
If you have any questions, please contact your Labor Board.

I like this, I believe this is fair Thank you for your hard work EG :cop:

I can live with that. You got my vote.

Doubt we'd ever see anything better than this from our City. Maybe everywhere else.

Count me in on a vote.

I guess the last proposal wasn't the "BEST WE'RE GOING TO GET" and we're not IDIOTS for voting no. Good job JM.

Food for Thought:

Firefighters forgo raise in contract
Lauderhill officials voting Monday on 3-year deal

Lauderhill firefighters have agreed to forgo a cost-of-living raise for one year in a contract that city commissioners are scheduled to vote on Monday.

"With the state of the economy, we wanted to make sure we maintained jobs and, more importantly, the same level of service for our residents,'' said Zachary Ninger, vice president of the Metro Broward Professional Firefighters Local 3080.

Under a three-year-deal, the firefighters, drivers, lieutenants, captains and battalion chiefs who are part of the union will get no increase in the year that ends in October 2010. In the second year of the contract, they will be entitled to a lump-sum payment equal to 2 percent of their salary. In the last year, any raise will be tied to the Consumer Price Index but capped at 4 percent.

While police and firefighter contracts have been known for more generous raises and benefits, several cities are trying to cut back.

Deerfield Beach firefighters agreed to a tentative contract calling for no raise in the 2009-10 fiscal year and a 1.5 percent cost-of-living increase for 2010-11. And in Pembroke Pines and Hollywood, city officials have pushed for pension restructuring.

In Lauderhill, pension changes are also planned. Employees hired on or before Sept. 30, 2009, will maintain their current pension benefits, but those hired after that date will get less lucrative benefits.

Mayor Richard Kaplan, who has served on the City Commission for almost 22 years, said this is the first city fire contract that he can recall with no pay increase for a year.

"This shows that the union recognizes the economy is not in the best of shape and everyone is willing to share a little bit of the pain until we recover,'' Kaplan said.

The city did agree to cover the cost of more online classes for firefighters, which Ninger says is a better fit for their schedules.

Georgia East can be reached at geast@SunSentinel.com or 954-572-2078