IRVINE : Labor Laws Violated, Police Suit Alleges

The city police officers union, working without a contract for 10 months, sued the city in federal court this week, alleging violations of labor laws.

City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. said he believes that the police filed the lawsuit to pressure city officials into negotiating a favorable contract.

“What they’re trying to do is leverage the city to get a contract quicker rather than follow the normal (negotiation) process,” Brady said.

However, Irvine Police Assn. president Patrick A. Rodgers said that for six years the city’s overtime-pay practices have violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. City officials say their practices are legal.

The lawsuit alleges, among other things, that the city does not offer sufficient time off for overtime hours worked and that it illegally exempts some police supervisors from overtime rules.

If the lawsuit succeeds, it could force the city to pay three times the actual amount of overtime the officers earned over the past three years as a penalty, Rodgers said.

During employment contract negotiations, Rodgers said, the 125-member police union said it would not try to force the city to give officers back overtime pay if the city agreed to change its practice. The city refused, he said.

The union also tried unsuccessfully to persuade council members to intervene, he said.

The police officers are the only unionized group in the city to be working without a labor contract. Two other unions agreed to one-year contracts that include no cost-of-living pay increase.

The city and police union are still negotiating a contract, Rodgers said. Both sides agreed to put aside the overtime pay issue until the court makes a ruling. The biggest current issue important to police officers is retirement benefits, Rodgers said, although the city and union are at odds over other issues as well.