Successful Negotiations Continue In Southern California

 By Dieter C. Dammeier
LACKIE & DAMMEIER LLP

As loyal readers of the PORAC news are aware I have reported for the past several months on a number of police associations in Southern California that have successfully negotiated new contracts with their employer.  This last month, two more associations represented by Lackie & Dammeier have joined these ranks in negotiating significant salary and benefits for their members.  

Montebello POA

            MPOA hired Lackie & Dammeier in 2003 in an effort to correct the downward slide it had been on for the past several years.  In 2003 Montebello’s, salary was at the bottom of their traditionally used survey cities.  To make matters worse, the MPOA with their previous counsel (Silver, Hadden & Silver), agreed to a contract which had the MPOA members paying up to 9% of the PERS cost should PERS rates increase.  As everyone now knows, PERS rates did drastically increase and as a result MPOA members were facing a 9% pay cut to offset the PERS rate increase, which would in effect have made them the lowest paid officers in Los Angeles County.  Fortunately, the MPOA leadership and its members took necessary actions to begin turning things around.  Aggressive negotiations took place in 2003 and 2004, which included the membership showing up in mass to a City Council Meeting, and the POA leaders getting actively involved in local politics.  These negotiations led to contracts for 2003 and 2004 that eliminated the 9% pay cut (to pay PERS) for employees (in effect a 9% raise) and created a new benefit for retiree medical that provides $375, per month (in cash or medical premiums) after 15 years of service.  This amount increases by $25 for each year of service to a maximum amount of $625, after 25 years of service. 

After taking care of these significant issues, MPOA President Mike Burgman, then turned to resolving the salary issue.  From the POA’s strong position it had established previously, the MPOA was able to negotiate a 12.5% salary increase to extend their contract to December 31, 2006.  As a result, the net effect for the three years between 2003 to 2006 is a new and significant retiree medical benefit and a 21.5% salary increase (9% diverted to pay the PERS cost).  It was only with the hard work and dedication of the MPOA and its members that it was able to turn things around and achieve this result. 

Claremont POA

            The Claremont POA negotiating team, led by Rick Luginbill, was able to reach resolution for an 18-month contract.  The contract calls for the POA members to have their salary adjusted to be 4% above the median for their surveyed cities.  In addition, the CPOA was able to negotiate new benefits which bring them more in line with the marketplace.  These new benefits included bilingual pay of $50 per month and most significantly, POST/Education Pay of $150 for an A.A. (or equivalent units) or intermediate POST and $275 for a B.A. (or equivalent units) or Advanced POST, per month.  The POA was able to increase other current benefits such as physical fitness expense reimbursement to $550 per year (was $400), increasing the ability to purchase comp time from 40 hours to 60 hours annually, and increasing court on call from two hours to four hours for a full day of being on call.  All in all, a pretty good 18-month deal. 

About the author: Dieter C. Dammeier is an LDF Panel Attorney and partner with the law firm of Lackie & Dammeier who specializes in labor negotiations for public safety associations throughout Southern California.