A deal is no longer a deal

Sergeant Clay Ballenger, with the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police, said his members feel like they’ve been stabbed in the back after the mayor moved to kill the deal approved in arbitration.
In the old days, when contract negotiations between police associations and the city or county or state hit a snag what would usually happen is that the matter would be settled by and arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators. That’s what happened recently in Tulsa, Oklahoma – arbitrators decided in favor of giving new Tulsa Police Department hires a paltry two-and-a-half percent raise with 60 percent of the force getting no raises at all. But these day’s a deal is no longer a deal. All the mayor has to do is call a “special election” for another chance to make sure the city wins and the police officers lose.