The Police and Fire Public Interest Arbitration Reform Act
instituted in 1995 gave PERC the jurisdiction to decide appeals
of interest arbitration awards issued to resolve negotiations im-
passes involving law enforcement officers and firefighters.
“Because of that, you can accomplish a lot with the ability to
negotiate,” noted Robert Fagella, an attorney with Zazzali, Fa-
gella, Nowak, Kleinbaum & Nowak, who presented the session
“Navigating Arbitration and Civil Service” at the collective bar-
gaining seminar.
But the 2-percent interest arbitration cap limited PERC rulings
on contract impasses so severely that PBA Locals really had no
recourse but to hope for 2-percent increases. And to take them
with no opportunity to negotiate.
The interest arbitration cap also outlawed breakage, money
that can be freed up when a member retires. When the retired
member is replaced by an officer at a rookie salary who might be
single and doesn’t need family healthcare coverage, the savings
– or breakage – could be redirected to increase compensation.
Breakage is back. And all contracts that expired after Dec. 31,
2017 are now eligible to benefit from bargaining. Locals now ne-
gotiating appear to be back on a level playing field. Freeman re-
ports that even with a 2-percent municipal tax levy still in place,
he is seeing contracts come in with increases of 3 percent or
more. The cap on the tax levy limits growth of the municipal bud-
get to 2 percent, so to give members more money means that the
governing body seems to be seeing law enforcement as a priority.
“I think most of the administrators or mayors or whoever is
doing the bargaining don’t want to screw the police,” Freeman
added. “I think they want to make sure everybody is happy work-
ing for their town. Yes, they want to make sure the taxpayer isn’t
burdened, but they also want to get rid of the public-employ-
ee-as-the-enemy feeling.”
During his presentation about the Fair Labor Standards Act,
attorney Merick Limsky of Limsky Mitolo recognized a some-
what ancillary issue that might limit negotiations. Municipalities
often complain about excess overtime but won’t hire more offi-
cers as a solution.
“They don’t hire because they are worried about the next elec-
tion,” Limsky professed.
But when considering movement back to the table, many in
the seminar reacted like Paterson Local 1 member Jason English,
who was attending for the first time.
“Looks like apparently arbitration is starting to go in our favor
more than what I’ve heard in the past from the other guys,” En-
glish said. “That’s a little positive.”
Other observations identified a new administration running
the state and an improved economy as contributing to the posi-
tive outlook. And Locals stand to do better with an all-in-this-to-
gether attitude. If the municipality understands that officers de-
serve their due, then they might not ask taxpayers for the shirts
off their backs.
“Listen, people are losing their houses and they know they
can’t afford their taxes. Then you give a cop a raise? People are
going to go nuts. I don’t blame them. I have a house. I pay taxes.
I don’t want to see my taxes go through the roof,” stated Wayne
Local 136 State Delegate Lorenzo Passano. “But, listen, officers
need to be paid for the job they’re doing. If they expect you to
protect people’s property, well, you want to be paid for it.”
Back to the table
Bargaining is so back that several Locals came to the collec-
tive bargaining seminar in the same position as New Brunswick
Local 23, which still has two years remaining on its current con-
tract. Clearly, there’s a need to learn how to bargain not just in a
post-cap era but at a time when the art of negotiation is evolving
into the science of negotiation.
“It’s never too early to start building a better knowledge of how
to do contract negotiations and knowledge of how the whole
process goes down,” Local 23 President Peter Maroon disclosed.
“We’ve got a lot of information we can use now. It gives us a
chance to start early and not be behind the eight ball when it
comes time. We will be a lot more confident.”
Many of the collective bargaining seminar presentations cre-
ated a renewed sense of confidence for Locals going back to the
table. Freeman’s sessions, “Negotiating Outside of the Box” parts
1 and 2, generated ongoing buzz, and the presentation on “The
Negotiations Process” by attorney Frank Crivelli of Crivelli & Bar-
bati, LLC truly cut to the chase.
In the wake of no longer being limited by the 2-percent cap,
Crivelli advised that Locals should prepare to negotiate as if they
will go to interest arbitration. PERC still operates on a rocket
docket, covering the process in 90 days with hearings coming in
the first 30 days. He added that not preparing to file a petition for
arbitration when gathering info to take to the negotiating table is
“not doing any good.
“Negotiation is covering what you want, how you want it and
when you want it,” Crivelli continued. “Pre-negotiation is do-
ing any analysis of budgets, the town’s ability to pay and other
financial factors. Start preparing at least six months before. Nine
months is better, and one year is optimal.”
Crivelli also instructed about the opportunity for leverage in
negotiations now that there is no 2-percent cap. With the cap,
negotiations consisted of figuring out how to divide up 2 per-
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