Police Association, City Reach Tentative Deal
The Memphis Police Association has reached a tentative deal with the city, following a lengthy and contentious contract negotiation.
Via LocalMemphis.com:
There weren’t fireworks. No big celebrations, but Memphis Police Association negotiators worked out a tentative deal with representatives of the City of Memphis.
Last year under Mayor A C Wharton, there was never a single face to face contract meeting.
“We’re in the process now of mass e-mailings. We’ll have an executive board meeting set up for Wednesday, and we’re going to do the ratification vote on Friday,” Mike Williams with the Memphis Police Association said.
The contract is one with money. A 2.75 percent raise for patrolmen and sergeants on the force for less than 12 years and a 3.75 percent raise for those on longer.
That is not all.
“We also negotiated linguistic pay. Because he understand there’s a need for Spanish linguists. We’ve been trying to get that for the longest. They just would never do it,” Williams said.
Still, Williams said while the agreement is a start, it could have and maybe should have been better when it comes to money.
And here is the bottom line. Williams said unless benefits are restored, this contract will not keep current officers from leaving.
“This is not going to stop the exodus of officers. We agreed to this because it is more than a notion and more than we’re received in the last 6, 7, 8 years. So it’s a step in the right direction,” Williams said.
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