City Council to approve police union contract tonight

City Council appears poised tonight to approve the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement negotiated between the Police Commission and members of the Police Officers' Association. A copy of the proposed agreement was not distributed with the usual press packets that were handed out on Friday but, whatever the terms of the new deal, they're expected to set the tone for settlements with the city and School District's other six unions.

All of the contracts currently in force expire on June 30, the last day of the fiscal year. All were three-year deals agreed to in 2007.

Police Commission Chairman Armand Maheu and Chief Mike Moyer met recently met with the council in a non-public session. Union contract terms were assumed to subject of that meeting.

Because of last year's negative national inflation rate, city and school officials will have almost no wiggle room in preparing property tax cap friendly budgets for 2010-2011 and there has been considerable speculation that all sides will agree to special one-year contracts in hopes the recession will loosen its grip and conditions will be more favorable next year. Contracts are usually agreed to in three-year increments.

In 2007, the city agreed to increase the value of the various steps on the police pay scale by 3, 3 and 2-percent, over the course of the contract. In return, officers agreed to save the city money by switching from Anthem (Blue Cross/Blue Shield) health insurance to Harvard Pilgrim plans and to increase their share of the premiums to 10-percent. It is not clear, however, how many officers are actually paying 10-percent at this point because a clause of the contract allowed them escape paying anything at all if they dropped down from a so-called point of service level policy to an HMO type.

The annual salary for a probationary level (first year) officer is now $40,040. At the top of the 9-step scale — Master Patrolman — the salary scale reaches up to $56,056.

Moving up a step on the experience scale results in a raise of about 4-percent, even if the value of that step is not enhanced.