KCKPD Considering Lay Offs

[JayhawkFan]

To say that I am a tad bit confused by this would be an understatement. After all, they just received enough stimulus money for 12 new recruits, so laying off 16 current officers would be counter productive.

They have a contract in place, and while I do believe the city should honor the contract, I would much rather not see any lay offs. I have no clue how the vote on Friday went. I know a lot of the cops here, this being my hometown and being a former Deputy here, so I can't say that I approve of what the UG is proposing.

http://www.kmbc.com/news/21322226/detail.html

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- There is talk of layoffs at a metro-area police department as negotiations continue between the officers' labor union and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County.

As the county works through a budget crisis, there's been word that as many as 16 police officers in Kansas City, Kan., could be laid off, KMBC's Marcus Moore reported.

Wyandotte County is looking at a $15 million budget shortfall for 2010. Twice this year, about 1,200 nonunion employees have taken days off without pay to help the county save money.

If negotiations go well, the police officers' union could vote on a contract in a week.

Some residents told KMBC that they're concerned and don't want the city to lose any police officers.

The past two years have been extremely challenging for local governments throughout the nation due to the economic crisis. The Unified Government likewise has been impacted by this unprecedented economic downturn.

Based on the loss of anticipated revenues in 2009 and combined with the drastic revenue shortfalls in 2010, the Unified Government implemented a number of cost saving measures such as a hiring freeze and establishing wage and salary freezes for all non-union employees and freezing capital improvement projects.

The Unified Government works with twelve labor unions which cover over two-thirds of the 2000 plus employees working for the Unified Government. The UG has engaged all bargaining units and proposed a wage freeze and a majority of the bargaining units have agreed to the wage freeze for 2010. The UG is continuing to do everything possible to avoid layoffs of employees and thus far there have been no layoffs of UG employees due budget restraints resulting from the poor economy.

The Unified Government is currently engaged in good faith negotiations with the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #4. While the details of these negotiations remain confidential, the discussions have been constructive and we remain optimistic that the two parties will find a mutual resolution to the challenges resulting from the poor economy. Many sacrifices have been made by UG employees during these tough economic times and we continue to strive to provide quality services to the good citizens of our community.

[TheKansan]

Police union turns down pay raise

http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/1526613.html

Police union turns down pay raise

A Kansas City, Kan., police union voted to forgo a pay raise for 2010 and help Wyandotte County’s Unified Government with an unprecedented $12 million shortfall.

Unified Government officials had said that without the pay freeze, the city would be forced to give pink slips to 16 police officers.

Officers had been promised a 4 percent increase in 2010 and had a contract that guaranteed the raise.

“The Unified Government is pleased the union police officers have agreed to share in the sacrifice being made by other Unified Government employees to save the jobs of their co-workers,” Unified Government spokesman Mike Taylor said in a statement. “The Unified Government was obligated under the contract to pay the 4 percent increase, but simply couldn’t have afforded it.”

Several residents like neighborhood watch leader Marcia Rupp thought the pay raise was well deserved. She and others protested in front of city hall this week in an effort to stand behind police officers.

“We can’t afford to have police officers being cut or laid off. We need every pistol-packing police officer we can get,” Rupp said earlier this week.

Rupp and others wanted the city to find a way to retain police jobs and come up with a raise to recognize the hard work that officers perform every day.

Police Chief Sam Breshears said in a statement that the police department was prepared to deal with layoffs and would not have allowed public safety to be jeopardized.

“Obviously I’m pleased the dedicated officers in the FOP chose the responsible path of cooperating with the Unified Government in dealing with the budget crisis,” Breshears said.

The County Commission has already approved a two-year pay freeze and a pay cut in the form of 15 furlough days for all nonunion employees.

The government also has gone to the other unions and asked for contract concessions. Twelve labor unions represent about two-thirds of the Unified Government work force. Unions were asked to accept wage freezes and/or furloughs.

The electrical workers union elected to take the wage increase. But the vote meant that eight union employees were laid off.