Both the Buffalo News (briefly) and the LUSJ reported again on the LDP looking for compensation on acquiring the LPD dispatch duties last year:
The police officers’ union has hit the city with a improper practice charge over its failure to compensate members for taking over fire call dispatching duties last year.
The charge, filed by the Hickory Club through the state Public Employment Relations Board, is a device for getting the Common Council to “negotiate impact” on police personnel when Lockport Police Department took over fire-call dispatching duties from the fire department as of May 2010, according to Hickory Club President Todd Chenez.
“The impact is mainly money issues; it’s compensation,” Chenez said. “When you take work load on, there’s an impact. There are liability issues with communications, we have more work that we’re doing. ... (These) things should be negotiated.”..
As posted here in Jan '10 I was suspicious when Eggert said:
“I’m kind of hoping you give it to us. It’s easy. . . . We could do it for no cost.”
So why now the cost?
11 comments:
Tucker made another major screw up that this should have been worked out ahead of time. But I do have a problem, if they still are only working 40 hours a week while dispatching both why would we owe them anything extra, don't they owe us a full days work?
Time to move dispatch to the county asap and lay off the dispatchers !!!!
Just two words.....greedy bastards. This is the same reasoning the fire fighters union used when they were asked to stop sitting around the station house watching TV and go and do some building inspections. Of course it worked for them. "show me the money! I agree with Anonymous 8:14, County here we come.
Eggert is Tucker's stooge. He likes being Chief so much he fired the best man to take his place - Brodsky. I know a lot of people don't get along with Brodsky, but he's the most qualified guy on the job. Eggert was afraid of Brodsky so he makes up b.s. reasons to get rid of him and now the City's looking at another lawsuit, this one justified.
Once again though the man in charge is Tucker - both the firing and giving the extra duties to the police without a formal agreement is all in his court!
How soon can they give these duties to the county?
ah the public unions... gotta love it as in gotta love watching when they burn to the ground
I'm pretty sure there was formal agreement and it was voted on by the council. So if it was missed, it was missed by a lot of people. If the language for no additional compensation and an exit clause are not in it shame on all of them.
I'm surprised the LUSJ has not run with this angle in any of the stories on this subject since th echange was made. It's a big obvious story line.
I'll see if I can dig anything up.
If Fire goes out on 9 calls a day average thru out the course of a year and LPD works 3 shifts a day thats an average of 3 additional calls a shift for dispatchers. How much more do they need for that work load?
The lockport police will whine and whine. We want more money. The strange thing is if the dispatcher has time to answer the call. He is being paid a hourly salary which means work all 60 minutes. Whoops I forgot there the union.work when they want. Lockport is becoming a joke. To bad years back it was a nice place.
About a year and a half ago I asked Dick Mullaney why the clerical staff at City Hall was paid twice what their equals were earning in the private sector. Dick's answer, which made sense once upon a time, was that the City salaries are based on Harrison's salaries.
In order to entice good workers to consider working for the City, the City had to make the salaries and benefits comparable to those at Harrison's.
While that may have been true once, it's clearly not now. Unfortunately, the City Hall folks are almost all in one Union or another and we're tied to the salaries that they're paid. That's one reason why the only way to lower personnel expenses is to get rid of people because they won't consider losing any of their $$$ or benefits. I wonder how they can live with themselves knowing that if they gave up a small percentage of their salaries, the City wouldn't have to lay off their friends and co-workers. This year wasn't so bad because of the State retirement incentive, but wait until next year - the economy isn't going to magically recover in six months at which time they have to start on next year's budget.
xavier
how can you post such outright fiction.the clerical staff does not make twice of the public sector.well maybe your secretary makes half. i have read your post in ALL the threads, you put no value in people who pay witholding tax.as i have family that still works at general motors as a clerical employee's they have not been slashed as you infer.bark up another tree this dog just doesnt hunt.
I honestly have no idea what your complaint is. I have the most faith and compassion for those who pay witholding, because we are the ones who are being asked to pay all the new taxes being foisted on us. From our absurd sales tax rates - then the localities in which we live to the schools - the people in power in those places, inc. Albany, seem to think we all have a money tree in the back yard from which we can pluck more and more every year.
When you take into consideration that the City of Lockport has become a lot worse in the past 10 years due to absentee landlords, people who've lost their house (& then the bank doesn't keep it up) the housing stock is really circling the drain. I thought we were paying for a Building Inspections Department but I see no improvements in most houses & buildings which really need it. What happened to Housing Court and real punishment of those who are on their 4th or 15th citation?
As for General Motors, I won't pretend to be an expert on who is working where as what. I do know that the Unionized workers made out quite well when GM filed Bankruptcy as opposed to the White Collar guys who were thrown to the wolves. Thank you Obama. I do believe that any persons hired by GM after the Bankruptcy was filed do not make nearly as much as those who were in those same positions prior to the Bankruptcy. My knowledge comes from the Erie County UAW plants so perhaps it's different at Delphi. I don't know. All the line workers and skilled workers at Delphi I know/knew retired before the Bankruptcy and I believe the new guys are making relative peanuts but are thrilled to have a job.
If you really read what I said - my issue with Dick was why do the City clerical staff make such good salaries with great benefits? His explanation made sense to me but there's got to be a way to alter the contracts with all the City unions. They're killing us.
Town of Lockport gets a lot of rotten points for enticing businesses out of the City with dandy PILOTs and other municipal benefits. Maybe if the Town had to pay for a police force, a fire department, etc. the Town residents might think their taxes were too high. As it is they use volunteer fire departments and use one NCSD car per shift. Is that fair? WE pay for that.
I apologize if I insulted you, but please re-read what I wrote. I didn't.
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