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September 24, 2010 in City
Guild, city of Spokane spar over layoffs
Police union rejects benefit changes, threatens legal action
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 leaders 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 nonunion workers for 2011. This year most nonunion 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 
hawken on September 24 at 7:28 a.m.
Unions rule this country and have our president and Democrat Congress as lap puppies. Why not Spokane public safety? We only have ourselves to blame! We put the Progressive, Socialist Democrats and their unions in power throughout out land. If the mess we are in nationwide is going to be cleaned up, it must be done at the voting booth, beginning in November. Don’t blame the skunk because he stinks…. that’s what skunks do naturally. Just run off the skunk. Hopefully, Mayor Verner has the backbone to stand firm.
horse_feathers on September 24 at 9:14 a.m.
Very well stated, hawken
lewis8457 on September 24 at 9:27 a.m.
Verner backbone, that is funny.
Why doesn’t the SPD just lay off all the forensics people? I mean they don’t need them, in fact all they do is cause trouble.
saying things like no proof of phantom baton strike or the now missing shell casings. All they are doing is costing extra money to investigate what the Friday morning donut meeting has concluded Creach was just another unfortunate accident and can you pass the chocolate eclairs?
And the shell casings? Who ate all the bear claws?
Ron_the_Cop on September 24 at 10:42 a.m.
Pig Buster,
Actually the forensic team for major crimes is based out of SCSO.
Folks may be interested in reading my comments in the other thread re this salary dispute:
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/sep/24/alleged-givebacks-are-a-cop-out-its-time-for-a/?comments#c196049
… The Guild does itself no favors in taking cheap shots. What they need to do is target and make public the slush fund accounts that the City keeps off the annual budget - the Bank of Hein (Sp?) The Solid Waste Reserve Account. Mr. Cooley could you please explain what the $40M to $50M sitting in this reserve fund is encumbered for? Is this a prudent reserve or is it hoarding of public taxpayer money? This is one of the City’s piggy banks that it loans itself money - the YMCA building and more. . .
… The City elected are playing a bait and switch by not coming to grips with a structural deficit that was caused by the RPS Settlement Agreement. RPS Bonds I and II will ultimately cost the taxpayers of Spokane $100M. I’m not at all impressed if it’s true that the assistant city attorneys are getting a substantial raise for inferior legal work - Rocky re the Zehm Case and now the Ombudsman ordinance revision with Breean Beggs. Need I mention that the City Attorney’s Office was a chargeable principal in the RPS Bond Frauds (See http://tinyurl.com/ykemtqr and http://tinyurl.com/ybgkjqe )
Current parking meter revenue of about $2M is being used to service the debt from RPS bonds II as part of the RPS Settlement Agreement. What takes some digging is this payment is much more like $3M. The parking revenue is not enough to cover the costs of collecting and producing this revenue - a big item is personnel costs of those that collect the money from the meters and enforcement. This is a hidden subsidy of perhaps $1/2M to $1M per year that comes from the General Fund if the parking revenue generated isn’t enough to cover the debt service on RPS Bonds II and these additional costs of collecting this revenue.
My challenge to the Police Guild - set your gun sights higher. The City elected/appointed are playing you as pawns to CYA. Shades of the City of Bell, CA? Where the Hell is Steve Tucker when you need him?
irritable on September 24 at 10:48 a.m.
There was a time when unions were the only way that employees were treated fairly. Now there are agencies that enforce fair treatment and standards. The unions need to realize that the contracts that are bargained with pay and benefits that are so far above the FSLA laws are not substainable. I know alot of City employees and they would give back to save jobs but the union leadership is not listening. This is not just the Guild.
spokanesausage on September 24 at 1:26 p.m.
I’m with irritable on this one.
Ed Byrnes on September 25 at 11:27 p.m.
I say let the guild sue or do whatever else they want, it will fan the flames of public questioning of law enforcement authority, integrity and credibility, which we need to motivate our fellow citizens in demanding law enforcement transparency and accountability.
Mayor Verner and top administrators must also have the integrity to reduce their own salaries and perks if they want to credibly request the same of other municipal employees.
westerly on September 28 at 8:00 a.m.
Police and fire unions are national unions also..powerful lobbyists. Their voice is heard, they are ” heroes”..so they like to be described.Verner and city council cringe when they meet them in their full (military style) uniforms. Unions are the biggest cause of mounting city dept all over the US.Todays economy cannot afford their current and future demands for..only themselves…arroagant public servants.We are the peasants who serve them.