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September 23, 2010 in City
Police Guild threatens suit over potenial layoffs
Spokane Police Guild leaders this week sent a strong message to Mayor Mary Verner: We dare you.
In a letter received by Verner on Thursday, Guild President Ernie Wuthrich warned that if any guild members are laid off, the union will challenge those job losses with the state Public Employment Relations Commission.
The news came the same day Verner accused the guild leadership of dishonesty after they distributed a list of salaries to its membership showing raises received by more than 70 city employees from 2008 to 2010.
Verner and other administrators said many increases shown in the list were wrong or out of context.
For instance, the list shows that Internal Auditor Rick Romero received a 53 percent pay boost from 2008 and 2009. That number isn’t surprising given that Romero wasn’t hired until well into 2008.
Verner said the list was aimed at causing strife among city workers.
“It’s deception, and it doesn’t solve the budget problem,” Verner said.
City officials said most salaries in the list are based on what is called for in union contracts.
Attempts to reach Wuthrich on Thursday were unsuccessful. Verner said she talked with Wuthrich about the release of the salary data.
“I’m not going to tell you what I told him,” Verner said. “It was not a pleasant conversation.”
The city is preparing to notify 120 city workers next week that they will lose their jobs or be demoted at the end of the year.
This month, Verner told employees that she could avoid most layoffs if workers agreed to give up their 2011 pay raise and cover a higher amount of their medical benefits.
Verner has frozen all salaries of non-union workers for 2011. This year most non-union workers received raises based on what unions won in contract negotiations.
“Facts not in context do not lead to truth,” said Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick, when asked about the guild’s salary list. “We say it all the time in police work, so it should be true in this situation, as well.”
Several people on the list, however, did get pay raises above what was called for in union contracts. City spokeswoman Marlene Feist, for example, got a raise of 17 percent to more than $86,000 this year after “a salary survey” was completed by the human resources department. Some surveys were completed as a result of union contracts.
City Administrator Ted Danek said salary surveys are sometimes completed to make sure pay is in line with people doing similar jobs. Verner said there will be no raises next year based on salary surveys.
Danek said the city will continue working toward concessions with the guild. But the union letter indicates it will be a hard sell at best for the guild. It formally rejected the city’s proposal for medical benefit concessions – though it said the union will continue to discuss “potential medical plan designs.”
Wuthrich’s letter said laying off officers violates the city’s contract with the guild.
“The act of laying off any of our members prior to the city dispatching its duty to bargain that change in working conditions will result in an immediate filing of a grievance and/or the petitioning of PERC concerning an Unfair Labor Practice,” Wuthrich wrote. “The guild will seek whatever legal remedies possible.”
First-year Spokane Police officers earn about $43,000 annually. With 10 years of experience, they make almost $70,000. Detectives start at about $74,000 and earn more than $77,000 with 10 years of experience.
This year guild members didn’t get a raise. Instead, they were given an extra 52 hours of vacation. Last year, the guild was the only city union that didn’t make the full amount concessions requested by Verner.
Kirkpatrick said 45 positions will be lost in the police department if concessions aren’t made. About 35 of those are commissioned officers.
“I would hope that the (guild) leadership would seek the opinion of the membership,” Kirkpatrick said. “There are a lot of people within the department who want to do anything they can to save everybody’s job.”
MAC faces angry crowd 
misjustice on September 23 at 8:57 p.m.
“Spokane Police Guild leaders this week sent a strong message to Mayor Mary Verner: We dare you.”
The first sentence of this article speaks volumes about the Guild. And not in a good way.
bdr on September 23 at 9:17 p.m.
Good luck Guild……..! the Whole dam state is cutting back.
You’ll be lucky if Gregoire doesn’t send down henchmen to remove the guild.
I remember the days when I was union….we heard this harsh talk
((those days are long gone to Mexico)) our union jobs long gone.
JBlim on September 23 at 9:19 p.m.
The “we dare you” comes from Jonathan Brunt of the Spokesman, not the Guild leaders.
monkeyman on September 23 at 9:30 p.m.
Our Heroes! Is there no firefighter’s union, or are they just slow?
misjustice on September 23 at 9:45 p.m.
But later in the article, Jblim, the Guild essentially says “Double Dog Dare You” with their threat of legal action; “The guild will seek whatever legal remedies possible.” That means HOW DARE YOU? We’ll tie this up in legal wrangling for years!
Shylock13 on September 23 at 9:47 p.m.
What should we expect? The Guild “protects” its own…even when they are guilty of crimes against us poor salary payers! A bit of misdirection or downright dishonesty is to be expected!
misjustice on September 23 at 9:52 p.m.
Theodore; you’re spot on, the Guild does “protect” its own. The rest of us can go to H-E-Double Toothpicks!
Dazzeetrader11 on September 23 at 9:53 p.m.
Verner made a deal with the union. She better stick by it…or else.
She’s made lots of deals with various people. She always goes back on her deals…even contracts!
She’ll figure it out…she owes the unions. Funny when two crooked factions fight it out over a few dimes. Public might suffer but neither one cares. It’s “what’s in it for me” time.
She has the money.
Spokane_Citizen on September 23 at 9:59 p.m.
We’ll see if the council has the fortitude to deal with the police guild’s total lack of concern for the economic plight confronting the city (the nation) and its citizens. It doesn’t appear they give a damn. These people aren’t heroes, they’re opportunists, and could care less about society’s desperate situation.
I feel sorry for the young police officers, dragged into this situation by the greedy old union dinosaurs playing a budget game that will only hurt them, and the community.
zelda on September 23 at 10:27 p.m.
52 hours of vacation. That’s some concession — and a nightmare to provide enough manpower to cover shifts since a good percentage of the force is on vacation at any given time. No wonder they need the full headcount — they’re fighting to preserve the vacation time.
Sorry. Can’t have both vacation and total job immunity. Something’s got to give.
Total compensation in the private sector has been eroding for more than two years. The tax base is shrinking every month. Who are the unions using as comparables in their salary surveys — hedge fund managers? Get real. Most of my friends have been unemployed for more than a year.
Scoutster on September 23 at 10:32 p.m.
Spokane Citizen…
I agree. The majority good police are being dragged by the calcified leadership of this mob. (This issue just being today’s headline.)
Are they so out of touch with reality that they just don’t understand how this looks to this community full of struggling people?
Regardless of the merits of their arguments, and as far as I’m concerned they are welcome to advocate for them, the tone is the most boneheaded PR move I can imagine in this climate.
Who are these guys, and aren’t the rank and file starting to get a little restless? I mean, come on!
misjustice on September 23 at 10:32 p.m.
“… given an EXTRA 52 hours of vacation.” That’s in addition to the vacation they already had bargained for!
mikewsu on September 23 at 11:01 p.m.
Fire these “police guild” mobsters.
Serve and protect?
Mr_Bloggy on September 23 at 11:06 p.m.
Laying off city cops - one quick way to make the streets safer from violence for the citizenry.
lewis8457 on September 23 at 11:19 p.m.
Verner will find out she let the tiger loose and their is no way to put them back in their pen. she gave them what they wanted last year in their new contract and now she gets to see they have no respect for her either, they just used her like they are using every one of us.