PAX Centurion - September / October 2013

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • September/October 2013 • Page 9 Treasury Notes: David “Duke” Fitzgerald, BPPA Treasurer An overview of the Arbiter’s Award As in any award issued by an arbiter there are pros and cons to it. I do not believe that anyone of us is thrilled with the award but that is how the process works. A s everyone is most likely aware by now, we have received the award from the arbiter on our long outstanding contract. As in any award issued by an arbiter there are pros and cons to it. I do not believe that anyone of us is thrilled with the award but that is how the process works. Let’s try and take an overall look at this decision. We are all aware that there was little to no retro pay awarded to us. For the first three years of the expired contract we received a total of 4.5%. It is estimated that there will be about $7-$8,000 in retro pay before the government takes their share. That is before taxes. I under- stand that we were all looking forward to the checks the Boston Fire received only three years ago but we are not going to get them. It is what it is and we have to move on. Furthermore, we were denied by the arbiter any retro money at all for all the overtime that we worked. That in of itself is a disgrace, if we received the minimum that we did in retro pay then there is no doubt that it should be attached to our overtime as well. Again the arbiter denied it and we have to move on. That is about all the negativity there is to the contract. I understand that there are still things that some of our members are not going to like about the contract but what can we do about it now? I do not want to be dismissive on the little retro we are going to receive; it is a disgrace but we have to move forward. Oh sure we can kick, scream, shout, sulk, and cry in our drinks over it but that is not going to change anything. The award is the award so let’s try and focus on the positive and not the negative. On the last three years of the contract we will receive a total of 9%, which is 3% a year. Then there is the parity adjustment of $2,000 which is about another 3% according to our attorneys. Now we are up to around 12% for the last three years with 6% coming in this very year. So now things are starting to look a little bit better. Every member of the BPPA will receive this 6% this year. Later in the contract the arbiter addressed the longevity clause. He awarded anyone who has worked 5 years as a patrolman $2,000 which is about a 2.7% raise in addition to all other percent’s awarded prior in his decision. Any member who has worked 10 years will receive $4,000 in new monies above all previous increases. Any member who has worked 15 years will receive $6,000 in new monies which is about 5.5% increase above and beyond all other awarded raises in this contract and any member who has served as a patrolman for 20 years will receive $8,000 another 5.5% raise. This contract has suddenly taken a pretty good turn. Then the arbiter created a “Cumulative Risk Enhancement Adjust- ment”. Here he drastically increased the longevity for those of our members who have given so much of their lives to this profession. Beginning in fiscal year 2015, which is July, 2014, any BPPA mem- ber who has worked 20-24 years will receive an additional $3,000 which is about an additional 4% to all other raises. Then on that same date any member who has worked 25 years or more receives a $6,000 increase to all other raises which is about an additional 8% increase. These are very nice pensionable increases when you no longer feel or are capable of doing paid details. In an attempt to keep this simple, the way that I have tried to explain this contract is that it is not an “old man’s” contract. There are things in this contract for every member of this association. Allow me to try and stay on my point here. These longevity awards that the arbiter put in place are here for everyone who reaches those work years. It is like a pot of gold wait- ing for you at the end of the yellow brick road. It will just vary when each of us reaches the end of that road. However, when you do reach the end there is your pot of gold just waiting there for you to collect. And unlike the Quinn money, you do not have to do anything for this pot of gold except reach the year markers. Just do the time and the money is yours. If you just reflect on it, it is not a bad set up. Then for the younger members, you too have some potential increases just for you. The arbiter, who believes in an educated police force, awarded a new educational incentive. Now as of 2009, no new members of the Boston police could receive any educational ben- efits. Furthermore, any current members back in 2009 who were not receiving any Quinn benefits could not go and earn them. The state of MA made it clear, if you were out then you were out and never getting in. So, now under the arbiter’s award, all members of the BPPA who were not receiving or entitled to any Quinn benefits are now afforded the new educational incentive which almost mirrors the former Quinn prod- uct. Members receiving no educational incentive will now be able to receive the City’s portion of what once was the Quinn Bill, 50% plus a flat rate of $2,100 on top for an associate’s degree and $4,100 for a bachelor’s degree. If you are just on the job with only one or two years and you currently have an associate or bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice you will now be entitled to these monies under the arbiter’s award. So this benefit is for the younger and newer members. If each of us sits and really tries to look this award over I believe that you will be able to find something there that affects you in a very positive way. The author of this award did a splendid job in setting up a template that a future arbiter can critique in his or her own way. He laid the ground work to increase our pay with little to no effort. Even the longevity pieces we will all one day be entitled to. Almost every- one one of us to a person will see the twenty and twenty-five year mark. (It comes quicker than you think.) Then you will understand the impoertance of receiving that increase at that stage of your career. After working for that many years you may not want to do as many details and overtime shifts and with the longevity kicking in maybe you won’t have to. I hope that this brief overview of my opinion of this award has helped some of the membership to see the positive of this award. I realize that the majority of us are disappointed in the little retro money we will receive. Then again looking back if the arbiter did award us what we call our full retro think of the issues we would have to get that funded. Things do sometimes work out for the best. Again, I hope that I was a little successful in explaining the major points of this award and hope that some of you can now see the positive points in the award. I appreciate your time in reading this article and as always, let’s be careful out there.