•
It is important to document. Write it down. If you had a
discussion or negotiation, make sure you have a written
record of what was disputed and what was said.
Pay back
By the end of the three days, talk around the room remarked
about how lessons learned at the seminar could get contracts
back to where they once belonged. Franklin Township SOA Trea-
surer Lloyd Fredericks noted how the information disseminated
excited his Local to be ready for negotiating.
“There are tidbits and nuances you get here that make you feel
like you know what you’re talking about when you go to a nego-
tiation,” he divulged. “It’s kind of tough when the town hits you
with something and you’re like, ‘OK, I’ll get back to you.’ But at
least now you know how to make chess moves in your negotia-
tions.”
During his presentation “Bargaining and Arbitrations in a New
Reality,” Ray Caprio of the Rutgers University School of Planning
and Public Policy addressed the mentality of governing bodies
in negotiations. He warned Locals about municipalities trying to
cut their legs out from under them insisting on a number.
He further instructed that municipal goals focus on maintain-
ing the lowest possible increase in property tax, increasing salary
steps to reduce annual incremental costs, reducing retirement
benefits risk and eliminating longevity.
“Anything that drives up property tax in any significant way
they are going to react negatively to,” Caprio emphasized.
In the post-2-percent cap reality, Locals have to go to the table
being able to demand a 3-percent increase and know it’s possible
because they have thoroughly scrubbed the town’s budget. Exit
polls from the seminar indicated that members are now educat-
ed and more than ready to make such statements.
As Trenton Local 11 SOA President shared, “I feel I have more
weapons after this year.” And Hamilton Township Local 66 SOA
President Kyle Thornton added that his team is now prepared
to negotiate reductions in the cost of healthcare benefits and
knows where to look for money that the township might be hid-
ing. “There’s a lot of information we can use when we go to our
table,” he confirmed.
Attendees left Harrah’s able to tell their members that they
should be excited for the opportunity to collectively bargain
once again for economic terms and conditions of employment.
The 2-percent interest arbitration cap took that opportunity
away during the past several years, but now it has been restored.
“The bargaining table is once again level,” Crivelli reassured.
“In other words, when we now go to the bargaining table, we will
have the ability and opportunity to achieve meaningful wage in-
creases that will result in real dollars flowing back into PBA mem-
bers’ pockets.”
Contract Negotiations
Interest Arbitration
Grievance Representation & Arbitration
Employee Discipline
Public Employee Disability Pension Appeals & Applications
Unfair Labor Practice Litigation
Critical Incident Response & Representation
General Labor Litigation – Administrative, Federal & State Courts
NJ State PBA Legal Protection Plan Approved Attorneys
Crivelli & Barbati, L.L.C.
2653 Nottingham Way, Suite 2 • Hamilton, New Jersey 08619
Office: 609-981-7500 • Fax: 609-981-7501
www.CBNJLaw.com
www.NJPublicSafetyOfficers.Com
www.njcopsmagazine.com
■ MARCH 2019 39