CA: Highway patrol union reaches $30 million contract deal

The union representing California Highway Patrol officers has agreed to a new four-year contract that will cost the state more than $30 million a year, the state Department of Personnel Administration said Tuesday.

By law, salaries for the 6,400 officers are tied to what is paid to local police in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego and San Francisco, said department spokeswoman Lynelle Jolley.

CHP salaries currently are in line with police in those cities, so the officers will get no increases to their base salaries this year, Jolley said. But they will likely see raises in future years as local police salaries increase.

Officers now earn a base salary of $60,432 to $73,464, not including overtime, seniority pay, fitness pay or educational incentives. Jolley could not immediately say what a typical officer earns each year.

The new contract requires the officers to start paying into their pension system to fund retirement benefits. Their salaries are increasing about 8 percent to compensate for that contribution, which had been waived in previous contracts, but there will be no net pay increase because the money will be immediately deducted, Jolley said.

The new contract also boosts their uniform allowance from $540 to $920, and gives them a new $25 per month uniform cleaning allowance.

They also get a stipend equal to 3.5 percent of their salary to pay for off-the-clock activities like putting on protective gear and inspecting weapons and vehicles, as required by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the department said.

In addition, the salary differential for officers working the night shift and benefits for officers who suffer serious injuries will increase, and officers who recruit others to join the CHP will get extra leave time.

The agreement must still be approved by the state Legislature and union members.

On the Net:

Read the Department of Personnel Administration's announcement: http://www.dpa.ca.gov.

1 posted on 08/01/2006 7:48:05 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

The agreement must still be approved by the state Legislature and union members.
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Don't tell me you think there could be even a slight chance that our ThugoRat legislature would turn down even a single union voter ???

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