Tacoma City Council approved a new contract on Jan. 24 with the union that represents the majority of Tacoma police officers as part of an effort to spare more than 50 layoffs in the force.
The three-year contract with Tacoma Police Union Local 6 stipulates a 3.6 percent cost-of-living pay raise for more than 330 officers in 2012. As part of a concession to avoid layoffs, union members will defer those raises until 2013. They are eligible for an additional raise of 5 percent in both 2013 and 2014, according to John Dryer, the city's labor relations manager.
Not including overtime pay and benefits, the base wage for union members now is $53,000 for an entry-level patrol officer and $88,700 for a sergeant.
The concessions come with the condition that if the city lays off even one officer in 2012, the postponed raises must be paid to all union members immediately. The deal also stipulates that if any layoffs are considered as part of future budget cuts, the city and union will negotiate to avoid job cuts or lessen their impacts.
Councilmember Jake Fey said the deal is intended to save the city $1.22 million this year, but he does not feel the figure tells the whole story. What Dryer presented to the council was phase one of what could be a series of further cutbacks. Fey said he feels there certainly will be a second phase, as the city is grappling to address a $33 million budget deficit and this round of concessions will not fill that.
"This is not the end of the story," Fey said. "This is an important first step."
"This has been a long and difficult journey," Councilmember Lauren Walker remarked.
"Unfortunately the journey is not over," Councilmember Victoria Woodard observed. She said the city is about 60 percent of the way to filling the budget gap.
The union representing Tacoma firefighters is discussing concessions to avert 44 proposed layoffs among those ranks. The union is expected to vote on the contract this week.
"I thank our public safety partners for coming to the table," Mayor Marilyn Strickland said.
