President's Corner


PBA President Pat Lynch addresses police officers, firefighters, union supporters and the public at Aug. 15 Times Square rally that showed PERB arbitrators what we thought about the city's contract proposals, including its ultimately unsuccessful attempt to get cops to work 10 extra tours. Photo by Carl Varela

For the first time in the PBA's 108-year history, we were able to plead our case for salary increases to someone other than the City of New York.

It took more than a year of bitter legal warfare with the city, but the PBA won that right to have its contract impasses arbitrated by the state Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). It is a right we'll never have to fight for again, a right we will always have in impasse situations.


	At PERB hearings last summer, PBA President Pat Lynch makes a point to former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton (now LAPD chief) and former NYPD First Dep-former Philadelphia Commissioner John Timoney, both of whom testified on the PBA's behalf at the hearings. (Seated, l-r) PBA General Counsel Mike Murray and First Vice President John Puglissi look on. Photo by Robert Kalfus

The PERB process is not pure or incorruptible.

The PBA presented the strongest possible case to PERB. We had the finest labor negotiator, the best expert witnesses and a parade of nationally recognized police managers and elected officials who supported us in our quest for fair pay. If PERB were a jury trial, the verdict would have been unanimous in favor of our original demands. We made the case and we made it convincingly.

However, presenting the strongest case is not enough to guarantee success. In contract negotiations and binding arbitration the actions of our members speak louder than words. Presenting a visible demonstration of our numbers, emotions, support and arguments in a massive Times Square rally — one of the largest in PBA history — is more effective than strong testimony in the arbitration chamber. The individual actions of police officers supporting the union in our fight are just as important as the testimony before the board.

As we begin the process of negotiating our next contract, we must stand together with strength and dignity as a union. We are nearly 24,000 individuals who must think and act as one for the benefit of all.

Unity of purpose wins the day.

Patrick J. Lynch, President