City Employees Cry Foul on Salary Deal

Members of the Arcadia Police Civilian Employees Association seek a new direction for . Their main gripe is favorable financial treatment for public safety employees.

"If you compare the movement in base salaries between safety associations and [civilian] associations, as well as things like leave balance accruals and city-paid medical insurance premiums, the different standard applied to safety and nonsafety employees in many cities, not just Arcadia, becomes patently obvious," said Judy Cook, APCEA president.

Cook pointed out several inequities that she and association members would like to see changed before the new salary agreement is put in place by the end of June before the start of the new fiscal year.

"One of the most important aspects of having a collective bargaining agreement ... in place is the security and predictability it provides," said Cook. "That is especially true in times of economic uncertainty."

According to Cook, the double standard rests on the fact that the Arcadia Police Officers Association, or APOA, has a zipper clause allowing it to demand concessions or contract changes from the city.

A bilateral zipper clause prevents both the city and employee associations from initiating negotiations to change an existing contract. Civilian employees are subject to a unilateral zipper clause, which forbids them from asking for contract changes during the term of a salary agreement.

City Manager Don Penman explained that "while the needs of each of the five employee associations may be different, we try and establish parameters that apply to all groups. We try to be fair and consistent in the package that we offer each group."

But that doesn’t mean each association will get the same deal, according to Penman.

"For example when we look at police officer compensation, we would try to compare to police officer compensation in other cities that we feel are comparable to Arcadia," he said. "We would not compare a police officer to a planner, equipment operator or records clerk."

Cook acknowledged that "the inequities are not all the city's fault. Too often in the past, nonsafety associations in Arcadia and other cities have simply given up and accepted this double standard."

This was the APCEA's primary reason for breaking away last year from the general employees' group, the Arcadia City Employees Association.

APCEA member Mike Vercillo joined Cook in criticizing the city's approach in the latest rounds of contract talks.

"We were told that the city would no longer allow one association to bargain against what another association may have gotten during their last negotiation," said Vercillo. "However, what the city did was that exact same thing in reverse. Since they did not agree to any concessions with the other associations, they were not willing to agree to even the smallest concessions with our association.

"They were not even willing to agree that the needs of some of our association members were strikingly different than other city employees," Vercillo continued. "This demonstrates inequity in the most extreme form and the city's desire for power and control. Fair and equitable negotiations can never take place under those conditions."

Although APCEA may be unhappy with its place at the negotiating table, some public safety officials don’t share the group's sentiment.

In a previous interview with Patch, Detective Troy Hernandez, former president of the APOA, said he believes "the salary negotiation process is thorough and equitable for all involved. Because public safety is unique in and of itself, so is our overall computation of total compensation."

Police base their collective bargaining position on a survey of law enforcement salaries in Los Angeles County and 13 nearby contract cities including Alhambra, Burbank, Monrovia, Monterey Park and Pasadena, according to last year's salary contract.

Penman, who oversees contract talks along with the Human Resources Department, said APCEA claims of having unique needs could apply to any employee group.

"The [APCEA] wanted some added concessions and things from the city this year which the City Council did not grant," said Penman. "While they felt that they had some needs that were unique to their group, it was the city’s position that most of the groups could make similar arguments of uniqueness."

In the end, a council vote holds final say on employee contracts.

Cook hopes to “close the gap” between sworn public safety personnel and civilian employees.

“In our view, regardless of whether or not you are classified as a ‘safety’ or ‘nonsafety’ employee, things like health insurance, milk, bread, eggs and gasoline all cost the same."