COLLECTIVE BARGAINING REPORT
November is
negotiation season
November is the month that has several sea-
sons in full swing. Football, basketball and
hockey are all welcome distractions, but the im-
portant one for the labor representative is nego-
tiation season. Since many collective negotiation
agreements will expire on Dec. 31, those Locals
should be earnestly working with the employers
to ratify a mutually satisfactory successor agree-
MICHAEL ment that will provide the terms and conditions
FREEMAN of employment for the foreseeable future.
Unfortunately, there are still dozens of PBA Lo-
cals that have been out of contract since Dec. 31, 2017. Some
of them have declared an impasse with the Public Employment
Relations Commission (PERC) and, through a mediator, have
reached a voluntary settlement.
Others have not yet declared an impasse, fearing interest arbi-
tration while still subject to the 2 percent cap. Effectively, an ar-
bitrator must satisfy the requirements in N.J.S.A. 34:13A-16.7(b)
that a baseline be established for the total amount expended
by the public employer on base salary items for the 12 months
immediately preceding the expiration of the collective negotia-
tions agreement that is subject to arbitration. The 2 percent cap
on base salary increases are calculated using the gross base sal-
ary payments made to unit employees during the year of con-
tract expiration. Any base salary increase must not exceed more
than 2 percent per contract year, or the average of that amount
in the aggregate for all contract years. The statute now allows for
the 2 percent cap to be compounded over the contract duration.
In 2018, no interest arbitration awards have been issued. The
last award that was issued in 2017 was the “Jersey City Case,”
which is currently under appeal. In that case, Jersey City POBA
(rank-and-file) along with the PSOA (superior officers) declared
an impasse after both firefighter units reached four-year agree-
ments with the City, with raises of 1.5 percent each year.
During the mediation process, the PSOA reached a voluntary
settlement on a four-year agreement with raises of 1.5 percent at
top step for the first three years and 1.1 percent in the last year.
The POBA went through mediation and acknowledged that the
2 percent cap would substantially limit the raises. Consequent-
ly, after costing out their entire unit, including step increases,
the POBA proposed a two-year contract, presumably to take a
temporary position while getting out from under the burden of
the cap. The specific language as presented to PERC reads:
1. Effective Jan. 1, 2017 there shall be no salary increase
applied to any of the steps of the three salary schedules,
including (1) the schedule for Police Officers hired before
Jan. 1, 2013, (2) the salary schedule for Police Officers hired
after Jan. 1, 2013, and (3) the salary schedule for Detec-
tives. Those Police Officers and Detectives who are not at
the top step of their respective salary schedules shall not
receive an additional salary increase applied to the appli-
cable salary step that they were on as of Jan. 1, 2017.
2. Officers not at the top step shall move to the next step of the
salary schedule, effective Jan. 1, 2017. Officers during the
18
NEW JERSEY COPS
■ NOVEMBER 2018
2017 contract year shall receive their longevity payments,
as increased during the 2017 calendar year, in accordance
with their respective anniversary dates.
3. Effective Jan. 1, 2017 there shall be no salary step move-
ment or longevity increases paid during the 2018 calen-
dar year. However, the approximately $327,584 available
for use in 2018, in consideration of the Interest Arbitration
salary cap, shall be divided equally among all top step Of-
ficers; i.e. approximately a 0.65% increase for all Officers
and Detectives at the top step.
There were many other items of economic and non-econom-
ic value to the POBA that were presented to the arbitrator, but
ultimately most were determined to have an economic value
that was considered a base salary item. Under those constraints,
the POBA was denied most of what they sought. The arbitrator
awarded the following:
• Jan. 1, 2017 — All officers eligible for step increases shall
move one step on the salary schedule, and all longevity
increases shall be paid.
• Jan. 1, 2018 — There shall be no salary step movement or
longevity increases. Officers at top step shall receive an
increase of $750 as added to the top step.
• Jan. 1, 2019 — All officers eligible for step increases shall
move one step on the salary schedule, and all longevity
increases shall be paid.
• Jan. 1, 2020 — There shall be no salary step movement or
longevity increases. Officers at top step shall receive an
increase of $850 as added to the top step.
As I stated above, this award has been appealed by the Jersey
City POBA. The full decision and award of Docket No. IA-2017-
012 are available on the PERC website at www.perc.state.nj.us.
All interest arbitration awards and agency decisions issued
since 1996 are available on the website and present a history of
labor relations in New Jersey. If your Local is facing an impasse,
I urge you to consult with your attorney and discuss mediation
as a way of spurring an agreement.
Your attorney can also advise you on your position regard-
ing the expiration date of your contract and the effect the cap
has on that contract. There are differing opinions, but no actual
court ruling on whether a duration “…through Dec. 31, 2017”
means a contract is valid until Jan. 1, 2018. Certainly, most em-
ployers believe that the cap applies to those contracts and are
“negotiating” accordingly. The fear that a court will agree with
them is most likely delaying an arbitration filing by any of our
Locals.
The 2019 NJSPBA Collective Bargaining Seminar will have
many of the state’s top labor attorneys, financial analysts and
professional mediators presenting all that a PBA member needs
to know to serve his or her Local in negotiations. They will all
be available to answer questions Feb. 5-7 at Harrah’s in Atlantic
City. Applications should be returned as soon as possible, as we
anticipate another sellout. In the interim, delegates and presi-
dents are free to call me at the State PBA office with any ques-
tions members may have.