Yale police union reach contract compromise

After 28 months without a contract, University police finally have a deal they can live with.

By Liz Oliner

PATRICK MCGARVEY/YH MAKING PEACE: YPBA President Carlos Perez signed the union's new contract with the University at a ceremony on Thurs., Dec. 3.

At 5:30 p.m. on Wed., Dec. 2, two and a half years of contract negotiations between Yale and its police force finally came to a close.

Carlos Perez, president of the Yale Police Benevolent Association (YPBA), tallied the votes of the 54 members of the union. Forty officers were in favor the contract, while seven voted against it and seven abstained. The contract was drafted on Tues., Nov. 24, in New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, Jr.'s, office.

The signing marked the end of a process that "has taken an unusually long time," according to Yale negotiator James Juhas. But, Juhas explained, "there was no magic" in what happened in that office. "No matter what negotiation you're dealing with, you've got to finally have a day when it ends. That day was Tuesday."

Magic or not, while Yale students and faculty were on Thanksgiving break, Juhas, Yale Labor Relations Director Brian Tunney, Perez, YPBA treasurer Chris Morganti, and YPBA negotiator John Grottole sat down together and, with DeStefano's help, put together a memorandum of agreement (MOA). The meeting, which lasted approximately two hours, revolved around the last outstanding issue, long term disability (LTD) enhancements.

The contract is retroactive to July 1, 1996, when the last police contract expired, and runs until June 30, 2002. Its signing gave officers an immediate $750 bonus and 2 percent salary hike. They will receive pay increases of two percent retroactive to July 1, 1998, two percent in 1999, 2.75 percent in 2000, and three percent in 2001. Also included is a settlement over LTD enhancements and bill of rights disputes, a 29 percent pension boost, and an early retirement option at age 50 after 20 years of service.

On Wed., Nov. 25, the union negotiation team issued copies of the memo to all union members. The front of the Xeroxed packet bore this message: "This is the product of two and one-half years of grueling negotiations. We believe this is an excellent contract and our recommendation is: it's a great deal, take it!"

Both sides credit DeStefano for the resolution. The mayor has been acting as mediator since May 1998, when the union asked him to step in. "If there is anyone who caused this all to be resolved, it was the mayor," Morganti said. "He helped us find a middle ground and come up with the language to be used."

Tunney added, "He got in the middle and made sure there was no slippage, no agreeing to do something and then not following through with it."

DeStefano, who had helped resolve the 1996 contract dispute between Yale and local unions 34 and 35, met with the union eight times and with Yale officials six times. But DeStefano's job was "not that tough," according to his spokesman, Michael Kuczkowski. "The two sides were not terribly far apart when he got involved."

According to Tun-ney, both sides were "looking to finally close" when they arrived at the final meeting. The only sticking point was LTD. Originally, the union demanded that both on- and off-duty disability benefits be enhanced, but Yale would only consent to improving benefits for injuries incurred exclusively "in the line of duty."

In the end, "All we needed was to find the right language," Tunney said. The phrasing agreed to in the new contract applies the benefit enhancements to policemen injured either "in the line of duty" or on duty "within the scope of their employment." Any injury resulting from a "specific discharge of duty," excluding "illnesses not directly arising out of police activities and chronic illness," qualifies the hurt officer for a higher level of benefits. "This [wording] is the obvious middle ground between what both sides had wanted at the outset," Tunney said.

The two sides had not met face to face since a negotiation session on May 12, 1998, before DeStefano got involved. At that meeting, both sides hoped to finalize an agreement on the spot. "It looked like it could have worked out, but it just didn't go the distance," Tunney said. Morganti referred to the meeting as "highly pressurized. The University had paid for a big, fancy room, and it was clear we were supposed to finish things up. But then we got there, and they didn't want to compromise or give us anything to work with." Though a federal mediator was present, Morganti said that "he was not an effective presence."

At the end of this meeting a preliminary MOA was signed, resolving issues such as grievance and disciplinary procedures. Yet several major stumbling blocks remained, including the LTD issue.

By September, both sides were at a standstill, and the union was set to strike. It made its boldest move on Mon., Oct. 5. With President Bill Clinton, LAW '73, scheduled to arrive for a reunion, the union announced that it would strike on Fri., Oct. 16, sending the University an official notice of intent in accordance with National Labor Relations Board regulations. But the police rescinded the letter when Clinton changed his plans. "The YPBA kept saying they would strike, but we're not sure they really were going to," Tunney said.

Morganti insists the union was not crying wolf. "We were ready to strike if it was serious enough that things were not going to be resolved," he said.

Either way, University Police Chief James Perrotti, who is not a member of the union, believes that "it's good news for everyone that a strike didn't happen. The union made the right decision."

When the new contract expires in four years, the two sides may again find themselves embroiled in a messy dispute. "We had 170 demands in 1996. We got maybe 20 addressed," Morganti said. Nevertheless, Perez predicted, "Next time we have to come up with a contract, the hard part will be out of the way. We have the groundwork for the future."

For now, everyone seems pleased--or at least relieved--by the compromise. "It took a long time to get the right wording, but we're pleased with how it turned out," Morganti said. "It will allow our two oldest members to retire and help us retain new recruits. We haven't had a raise in the last two and a half years, and it's nice to be getting it around the Christmas holiday. It helps the morale around the department."

"I'm certainly happy to have this behind me," Juhas said. "I don't have to worry about going to long negotiating sessions anymore. I don't need to think about the possibilities of strikes."

"I'm sorry for everyone that it took so long," Tunney added. "But we got here. Finally. Thank God."

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