Q: How will you remember 2002?

A: Sadly, I will remember a lot of 2002 as a year of recovery work at ground zero and a year of funerals and memorials. It was a year of sharing pain and sadness with the families and fellow officers of those lost at the World Trade Center. I made it a point to be a part of the honor guard for every one of our officers who was carried out of Ground Zero. I will also remember 2002 as the year our police officers were joined by firefighters and the public in Times Square at one of the largest rallies the city has ever seen in the fight for fair pay and fair treatment for our members. Finally, I will remember the mixed feelings of our first PERB decision. Delight that we’d beaten the city that wanted more workdays out of us. Satisfaction that we had broken the pattern and exceeded settlements reached by other city unions without givebacks. And disappointment that circumstances conspired to prevent a major market-adjustment raise for our members who have earned and deserve it.

Q: What do you see as the challenges that lie ahead in 2003 and beyond?

A: I think the PBA has to push the city to take steps to make sure that a tragedy like the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center never happens again. And we can only do that by keeping the mayor and police commissioner’s feet to the fire on issues like staffing, equipment and training. New York City cannot recover from the attack and be a world-class, competitive city without safe streets, and the streets cannot remain safe without adequate numbers of well-trained and equipped police officers. We also will be pressing the city for better compensation for our members to keep the officers that they have while making the job more attractive to young people who want to be police officers. The PBA will be carrying the message that when it comes to budget priorities, police resources must come first if this town is to remain safe and economically attractive to people and business.

Q: How has the PBA changed since your election in 1999?

A: One of the main goals we set before being elected was to make this union more responsive to our members’ needs. We wanted to open the union up and improve communication with our members and to root out poor past practices. Before we took over at 40 Fulton Street, our members couldn’t even get into the office without being buzzed through locked doors. Our health and welfare funds were approaching bankruptcy, and you never saw any of the top elected PBA officials except at delegate meetings. Well, all of that has changed. I am proud to have had a role in returning the health and welfare funds for both active members and retirees to fiscal health and stability. For the first time in decades the PBA has improved health, dental and optical benefits for both active and retired members. And we have rebuilt the funds to the point that they have an adequate operating surplus. I am also proud that we have kept our members informed about the business of their union, particularly during the PERB hearings. And I am proud to join other members of the executive board at special events and parades as we personally supply refreshments to our members, a practice unheard of before our election.

Q: Are there any successes of which you are particularly proud?

A: One of them certainly is that we’ve restored respect for the PBA among the membership.

Q: What are you feelings about the next contract?

A: Circumstances have not changed for our officers, who are still paid salaries below the national average for police. The last PERB decision recognized that the NYPD had a serious recruitment and retention problem, something the city continues to deny. Mayor Bloomberg has been telling anyone who will listen that the city needs the unions’ help to close the budget gap. He claimed in his State of the City speech that the unions “for the most part have shared” in the city’s good times. I don’t know what unions he was talking about but it sure wasn’t the PBA. As far as the PBA is concerned, we’re still seeking fair and equitable pay for police officers who risk their lives every day. You don’t stop seeking justice just because the city has a bad year financially.

Q: The Mayor has vowed that there will be no raises that aren’t funded by productivity. What’s your feeling about that?

A: It seems to me that our members have been the most productive of any group of workers in this city, keeping crime at record lows with fewer officers. And we haven’t been compensated for that yet. Beyond that, we have ideas for reworking our chart that will benefit the city. We propose a more modern chart, a 10- or 12-hour tour, used by other departments successfully. One problem we’re faced with in the next round is that prior PBA administrations have sold off so much of our contract that there isn’t much ground to negotiate on. It’s ironic but the most efficient workers with the tightest contract have the least to sell the city and therefore have the least with which to negotiate.

Q: What’s on the horizon for PBA members?

A: As the result of a PBA investigaton, a lawsuit has been filed based on the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). (See article on page 6.) FLSA is a federal law that establishes minimum standards of pay. It is very specific about when to start calculating overtime pay, how overtime is calculated, and how much latitude an employer has in granting FLSA time off (certain overtime taken as time). Some big-city police departments have had success with this kind of lawsuit. So we are optimistic that we can achieve two benefits for our members: back pay for overtime that was miscalculated and a requirement that the department must permit an officer to take FLSA time even if it has to pay another officer overtime for coverage. Our lives will become much better when the department can’t deny FLSA time off. And of course, we will be battling the city for our next contract and continuing to make sure that our members’ needs are well served.