Contract talks between UPD and city at impasse
UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - Contract negotiations between the Utica Police Department and the city have broken down. Their contract expired in March.
"Our lawyer felt it was a waste of time and money to sit down with them when there's a new administration coming in that we could probably settle a contract with," says PBA President Dominick Nitti. Utica Mayor David Roefaro, who is not seeking reelection, says it doesn't matter who is sitting in his office come January 1. "The bottom line is I will not budge from the zero. It has to be a zero, but a zero isn't a zero if you have what they call a change of language. If you change language and language equates to dollars and cents in the long run, then you didn't achieve your zero," says Roefaro. But Nitti says the extra two days off per year the UPD union was asking for in exchange for that zero raise the first year of their contract wouldn't have cost the city anything. Nitti says he hasn't seen the membership go without a raise in his 17 years on the job. "It was not going to cost them thousands of dollars; they were making up money other ways in the contract that we had agreed upon," says Nitti. If no agreement comes, the two sides could go to binding arbitration. "Every police agency around here usually in arbitration gets something. We most likely won't get a zero in arbitration and my guys at this point are like, 'let's go to arbitration then' I mean, we don't want to hurt the citizens or the taxpayers. We're willing to give them the zero percent raise and we're not wanting much in return," says Nitti. Roefaro says if the city loses in arbitration, the membership and the people they protect will lose. "If we lose in arbitration, there is no doubt in my mind there will be layoffs. There has to be layoffs." |
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.
Most Popular
What's On |
Most Popular