To All Delegates and Members

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

January 11, 2000

The Editor
New York Post
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036

Your editorial reaction to the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association's successful court challenge of the NYPD's cynical attempt to "reward" certain police officers with promotions to "detective specialist" ("The PBA Rejects a Raise," Jan. 10) misses more than one point entirely. "When is a raise not a raise?" you ask? When there is no written agreement establishing the criteria for who will receive it and how it can be revoked. When it's an attempt to circumvent a legal order by the Office of Collective Bargaining. When it's an attempt to define unilaterally what the OCB ruled should be bargained collectively. The PBA has not, as your editorial suggested, rejected a raise for its "hardest working members." We worked too long and too hard negotiating a fair deal for a greater number of truly deserving cops to let the department dictate divisive, union-busting terms at the eleventh hour.

Fraternally,

Patrick J. Lynch
President