LAPD officers’ union to declare impasse in salary talks with city

The Los Angeles police officers’ union said Friday that it intends to declare an impasse in its salary talks with the city, two months after officers rejected a contract proposal.

The Police Protective League, which represents 9,000 rank-and-file officers, said it would hold a news conference at City Hall at 10 a.m. to discuss what it described as a “lack of good-faith bargaining” by city negotiators. League officials portrayed their decision as “highly unusual,” saying that impasse is typically sought by management, not unions.

The union’s members rejected a proposed one-year deal in July that would have provided no raises for the vast majority of officers, but at the same time boosting cash overtime for officers from $15 million to $70 million.

City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, the city’s high-level budget analyst, disputed the notion that the two sides are at loggerheads. The City Council recently approved a legal settlement that restores the pay of nearly 1,000 officers who were hired since 2009 at a lower starting salary. That agreement also hiked starting salaries by 15%, from $49,924 a year to $57,420.

“We want to stay at the table and continue building on the progress that we’ve made so far,” Santana said. “We’ve been meeting and resolving things over the last several weeks since they voted down the proposal, so it’s been a very positive exchange of ideas.”

Santana has recommended that city employees receive no raises over the next three years, part of a larger strategy to bring the city’s budget into balance by 2018. The union has responded by warning officers will take jobs at other departments if pay increases are not provided.

The protracted salary talks come at a time of rapid growth in public safety pension costs at City Hall. The city’s contribution for police and fire retirement benefits has more than tripled since 2005, growing from $175 million to $626 million, according to a presentation given to the council earlier this year. By 2016, that figure is expected to reach $710 million.

The pension costs have made it more difficult for the city to provide other services, budget officials say.

Under the city’s labor rules, the Police Protective League would need to take its impasse declaration to the five-member Employee Relations Board, a quasi-judicial panel that issues decisions on labor disputes. If two sides disagree on whether an impasse has been reached, the board must decide whether one has occurred, according to Robert Bergeson, the board’s executive director.

If the board decides an impasse exists, it could appoint a mediator or fact-finder in the salary talks. If no agreement can be reached after impasse procedures are exhausted, the city can impose its last best and final offer on the league, but only for one year, according to union officials. Then salary talks would start over.

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