April 05, 2006

Salary freeze chills talks
Memphis, unions at loggerheads on pay
By Jacinthia Jones
April 5, 2006

Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton pledged earlier this year to hold the line on property taxes in 2007.

He plans to honor that promise, in part, by not giving pay raises to the city's 6,559 employees over the next two years.
The proposed salary freeze has pitted the city administration against the city's 22 unions and could force the City Council to be called in to break the stalemate.

"All the unions are up in arms about it," said Tommy Turner, president of the Memphis Police Association. "We wasted over 21/2 months talking about nothing. Now, they want to make the City Council out to be the bad guy."

Turner said the police and fire unions have asked for a federal mediator to intervene to avoid a City Council impasse committee and then a vote by the full body.

City Chief Administrative Officer Keith McGee said the city is continuing to work through budgetary constraints.

"As we worked through negotiations, ultimately we realized that it would not be possible to give salary increases," adding this would be the first time city employees had not received raises during Herenton's tenure.
However, McGee said the city remains committed to its employees and as such there will be no layoffs to balance the budget.

The city also is promising no increases in health care premiums for employees over the next two years. "We think that's significant," McGee said.

Joe Norman, a spokesman for the Memphis Fire Association, said health premiums are established by city ordinance, not union negotiations, and shouldn't have even been on the bargaining table. As for layoffs, Norman said the Fire Department has mandatory staffing levels.

The police union's Turner accused the city of negotiating in bad faith.
He said the union had initially asked for 4 percent raises, but later whittled that down to 1 percent for six months with the option to come back and renegotiate wages the second year.

In return, with the negotiations nearing the city ordinance-imposed midnight deadline, Turner said, "Their first and only offer at 11:15 was zero-zero and then they yanked the tuition reimbursement."

Besides wages, the unions also are fighting $1,500 annual limits and $10,000 lifetime caps on the amount the city will reimburse their members for attending college classes. Currently, there are no limits.

McGee said the city is attempting to rein in the tuition program, which cost the city $4.4 million in 2005. The proposed caps could cut that expense in half.

McGee said the current tuition reimbursement policy made it nearly impossible to budget appropriately because the expense depended on who decided to go to school in any given year.

McGee pointed out the city is not proposing to eliminate the college incentive pay given to police and firefighters with college degrees.
"We think it's reasonable to have these guidelines, given that citizens are paying the bills."
-- Jacinthia Jones: 529-2780

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What's it cost?
To give raises to Memphis' 6,500 municipal employees would cost:
$3.8 million for 1% increase with benefits.
Source: City of Memphis

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