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November 17, 2004
For Immediate Release |
Contact: Albert O'Leary
212-298-9190
or Joseph Mancini
212-298-9150
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BLACKBURNE SHOULD BE REMOVED PERMANENTLY FROM THE BENCH
The first in a series of binding arbitration hearings which will
determine New York City police officers’ contract which expired
in July 2002 will be held tomorrow at the law offices of Kaye Scholer,
425 Park Avenue, Manhattan, it was announced today by New York City
Patrolmen’s Benevolent (PBA) president Patrick J. Lynch.
A three-person panel established by the state’s Public Employees
Relations Board (PERB) will hear evidence and testimony in the salary
dispute between the city and its police officers and will decide
the terms a contract for the period of August 31, 2002 to July 31,
2004. Veteran labor negotiator Eric Schmertz has been selected as
the neutral party while attorney Carol O’Blenes will represent
the city and attorney Jay Waks will represent the PBA. By law, the
panel must consider comparability to other police pay, the ability
of the city to pay and the hazards and skills required for the job.
PBA president Patrick J. Lynch said: “New York City police
officers are dramatically underpaid for the work we do and the risks
we take. We patrol the largest, most complex city in the nation
that is the number one target for terrorism and yet we earn significantly
less than other departments in the New York area and far less than
most big-city police departments. Uncompetitive pay has resulted
in the loss of thousands of fully trained and highly experienced
police officers each year that might have been retained with a more
competitive salary and places an additional work burden on those
who are left behind. We are confident that the PBA can demonstrate
both the urgent need for a fair and competitive salary and the difference
between the inability and the unwillingness to pay.”
In 2002 a PERB panel awarded a pattern-breaking contract to police
officers valued at $50 million more than contracts awarded to other
uniformed services. While the city claimed publicly that the award
fit a previously set pattern, they objected in writing to the decision
calling it “an unjustified deviation from the pattern.”
It was the first time that the state and not the city had jurisdiction
over impasse arbitration of the police officer’s contract.
Hearing dates have been set for November 16, 19, 22, 30 and December
3, 7, 9, 13, 14, and 16. The hearings are closed to the public and
the media.
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