PAX Centurion - November / December 2013

Page 10 • PAX CENTURION • November/December 2013 617-989-BPPA (2772) O nWednesday, December 4 th , 2013, the Boston City Council passed a long-overdue contract, decided by an arbitrator, for the membership of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association. The contract (full text of the arbitrator’s decision on pages 11-14) provides for an average of 25.4% over a six- year period for BPPA members. Although Mayor Thomas Menino was legally required to support the decision of the arbitrator, he publicly railed against it in the local media and encouraged the City Council to defeat it. Thankfully, the entire city council (excepting Councilor John Connolly, who was not present and had publicly vowed to vote against it) voted in favor of the contract, 12-0. True, there were concerns expressed by several councilors about the overall cost, but mainly, the councilors were upset by the fact that, once again, they were put in the position of being “the bad boys” because of the Menino administration’s intransience, delay and arrogance in deal- ing with the BPPA over a period of 3½ years. It is not the City Council’s job to negotiate contracts, but when an arro- gant administration is hell-bent on basically saying “take it or leave it” to hard-working patrol officers, the funding is left to the council to approve or deny. Thankfully, the coun- cil, led by President Steve Murphy, voted unanimously to approve the contract, much to the chagrin of the lame- duck, outgoing Menino administration. The Council also courageously brushed aside scathing anti-BPPA editorial opinions from Globe editorialists Larry Harmon, Farah Stockman, and Scot Lehigh and the Herald’s Rachelle Cohen and Michael Graham. These avidly, rabid anti-cop editorialists tried their best to obfuscate facts and portray us as greedy cops; the City Council went for none of it and they deserve great credit. If you see your councilor, thank them, or make a phone call to the office. Contract PassesCity Council 12-0! By James Carnell, Pax Editor The BPPA will be working with our legal team, accoun- tants, and the BPD payroll unit to determine, over the next few weeks, a schedule for payment of retroactive monies owed and to assemble a new pay-chart for our members to examine. NOBODY should expect monies owed before Christmas, although the thought would be nice. The BPPA bargaining team should be commended for their efforts over the past three and one-half years, along with our outstanding legal team from the law firm of Sandulli Grace, P.C. Having been involved on a bargain- ing team in the late 90’s, I personally know of the heart- ache and criticism that bargaining team members endure. (I vowed never to get on another bargaining committee after having to listen to too many “guard-room experts” critique the results of that contract.) Most members will never know the back-room politics which occur during the bargaining process and the treacherous nature of the city’s lawyers, who quite frankly hate our guts. It’s not as simple as throwing what we consider justifiable, logical and reasonable offers in front of management. They don’t care. Publicly, they will laud you, as they did following the Marathon bombing. Behind the closed doors of bargain- ing, they express contempt for you, especially when they are being paid at $400.00 per hour. Some younger members are still upset that the arbitra- tor, Tim Buckalew, ‘backloaded’ his award and seemed to favor older officers. It would be wise for those officers to remember one thing: you may never be promoted on this job, and you may never get the assignment you want or deserve. But one thing is sure: You will get older . Take that to the bank. Seniority, although you may not have it now, you will possess in short order. And it comes quicker than you think….