Police union for civilians OKs lower wage increase

By Jean Reid Norman

Published Wednesday, April 1, 2009 | 4:23 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, April 1, 2009 | 5:55 p.m.

The union that represents dispatchers, crime scene analysts and other civilians who work for the Metro Police Department has agreed to give back part of the cost-of-living increase the employees were due to get July 1.

The 1,600 civilian Metro employees were scheduled to receive a 3.75 percent cost-of-living increase in the fiscal year that begins July 1. They instead will receive a raise of 2.25 percent, said Terri Yada, president of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association Civilian Employees Inc.

The union agreed to give up 1 percentage point in pay and to have employees pay 0.5 percent more of their retirement, she said.

The contract has a provision that automatically reopens negotiations on the cost-of-living raises when tax revenue goes down and the Consumer Price Index stalls, Yada said.

It took about two hours to reach an agreement with Metro Police officials, she said.

A ratification vote is scheduled for April 15, and Yada said she expects members will approve the agreement.

"I've spent three weeks going out and talking to our folks," she said. "I do not anticipate any problems."

Given the reduction and the fact that 85 civilian positions at Metro remain unfilled, Yada said she hopes layoffs will be avoided.

"We're hoping to stay status quo at this point," she said.

Uniformed police officers represented by the Police Protective Association are currently voting on a one-year contract that includes no cost-of-living increase, Executive Director Chris Collins said. The one-year contract replaces a four-year contract that expired this year.

“If economy is the same, we could end up with no or a small COLA next year,” he said.

Clark County's employees represented by the Service Employees International Union agreed earlier this week to reduce cost-of-living raises from 3 percent to 1 percent and to cap merit increases at 1 percent. Those employees are due to vote on the agreement Friday.