Youngstown police union rejects buyout plan

Photo

Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams

Patrol officers oppose a decline in entry-level salaries to $24,000.

By David Skolnick

YOUNGSTOWN — The city’s police patrol officers union rejected an early-retirement buyout incentive, but the mayor said the city’s offer was not final, and he expects further negotiations next week.

The union rejected the deal Friday because it includes too many unfavorable provisions, a union official says.

Those provisions include reducing the entry-level annual salary of patrol officers from about $38,000 to $24,000 in one proposal from the city administration and to $27,000 in the other, said Doug Pesa, secretary-treasurer of the Youngstown Police Association.

To reach the top of the pay scale in both proposals, about $52,500, it would take 10 years rather than the current five, Pesa said.

The scale with the higher starting salary would slow down the annual increases in the middle years, he said.

“Those aren’t competitive wages,” Pesa said. “The entire union felt it was not competitive, and the reduction is excessive. We feel it will do more harm in the long term than it will help.”

The proposed buyout would give each person accepting it a year’s base pay paid evenly over five years. The union represents about 115 patrol officers.

“We want the salary to be competitive,” Mayor Jay Williams said. “We may not be that far apart.”

The city is willing to discuss increasing the starting-pay offer, but needs to increase the years to get to the top of the scale from five to 10, Williams said.

Increasing years to get the highest pay from five to 10 years was a key component in an early-retirement buyout deal the city reached last year with the city firefighters union.

The patrol officers want the same buyout deal finalized Tuesday with the Youngstown Police Ranking Officers union, Pesa said.

“Our response is why don’t you give us what you gave” the ranking officers? he said. “We are willing to talk about the same type of buyout.”

Both were offered the same base pay buyout incentive, but the patrol union’s deal included the provisions not approved by its members.

As part of the deal with the ranking officers union — which represents 64 detective sergeants, sergeants, lieutenants and captains — the administration agreed to reduce that union’s membership to no fewer than 50.

City council had approved a restructuring of the department last year that would have reduced the number of ranking officers to 39 through attrition.

“By agreeing to 50 management positions, there are more promotional opportunities for patrol officers,” Williams said, adding that’s a benefit to the YPA members.

The administration wants to replace those taking the buyout with new officers at a lower entry-level salary because the city is financially struggling.

“We have to achieve savings in the short and long term,” the mayor said.

The city cut $655,000 from the police department’s salary and benefits budget this year. That is equivalent to 22 to 26 officers’ losing their jobs.

In order to reduce, and possibly avoid, those layoffs, the city administration offered the early-retirement buyouts to officers.

Fewer than 10 patrol officers would probably take the buyout, Pesa said.

Members of the ranking officers union say fewer than 10 of them would probably take the buyout.

skolnick@vindy.com