Posted on 09/06/2002 8:43:18 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
Calling an 11.5% raise over two years a slap in the face, cops on the street angrily blasted Mayor Bloomberg and police union officials yesterday for again failing to come up with a fair wage for New York's Finest. "We're the hardest working Police Department in the nation. Why can't we be paid like it? This settlement S-U-C-K-S," said Officer Rodriguez, a 19-year veteran who declined to give his first name. "Where's the beef?"
Officer Vince DeLuca of the 46th Precinct said: "It's an absolute disgrace. It shows how much the mayor and the city thinks of cops. We asked for 23%, and we got shafted."
A state arbitration panel, sought by the police union, granted the cops the 11.5% raise and rejected the mayor's proposal, where cops would have received a 14% raise over 30 months in return for working 20 minutes less a day and adding 10 days to their schedule.
On Wednesday, union officials claimed a modest victory, while Bloomberg lambasted the panel's binding ruling as a "missed opportunity."
In interviews with roughly three dozen cops, officers consistently denounced the settlement. Many cast blame at the top brass of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Union in addition to the Giuliani and Bloomberg administrations.
"We didn't get a great deal," PBA spokesman Al O'Leary said. "But we did better than all the other unions. We broke, for the first time in 25 years, the pattern. And we've done it without givebacks. Is it enough money? No."
Jordan Barowitz, a Bloomberg spokesman, said: "Mayor Bloomberg is in awe of the job that our police do protecting our city. But he is disappointed that the PBA turned down more money for its members."
Dana Eischen, chairman of the state panel that settled the dispute, did not return phone calls for a second day.
Some cops said they were angry with PBA leadership for claiming victory.
"The PBA is saving face - that's all they're doing," said one cop. "I'm going to have to cut Suffolk County cops' lawns to make ends meet."
Others focused their ire on the mayor. And many said they planned to apply to other higher-paying departments in the suburbs.
"I've got a lottery ticket in my pocket," said one cop. "Hopefully, that will work out better than the settlement."
That's the truth- I've been with my current employer five years and have had ONE pay raise and it was about 10%. I'll admit I make more than cops do, but these guys sound a little spoiled to me. And cops everywhere have great benefits, right?
The economy sucks and the union rats are biting our ankles again.
I wonder what the cop union brass gets for a raise?
Well, they should have asked for 45%!
I would be ecstatic with 11.5%...
I wish somebody would slap me in the face with an 11.5% pay raise over two years.
I recently squeeked through the latest “downsizing” in my department.
If I get more than a 10% increase in my income the next two years, it will have to be through lottery winnings.
Then find another job, whiner. If these idiots aren't out glorifying their jobs, they're crying that they're not being paid enough. So go find another profession and have a nice big glass of shut-the-hell-up.
"Angry cops rip 45% pay raise. Said they wanted 72%."
I agree with you. (Although there are parts of Long Island that merit combat pay. Hempstead, Roosevelt, parts of Freeport, North Amityville, Wyandanch, New Castle....)
My village cops in Northport make $120,000/year and do little more than ticket people for going through stop signs. Quite a racket.
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