NORTH : ANAHEIM : Police Picket Council Meeting a 3rd Time

The city’s increasingly angry police officers picketed a City Council meeting for the third time Tuesday, again demanding higher wages and an end to an 18-month stalemate between their union and the city over their labor contract.

About 250 Anaheim Police Assn. members and their supporters, waving signs that read “The City is Being Mickey Mouse--Bargain Now” and “Millions for Disney, 0 for Cops,” rallied on the steps of City Hall for 40 minutes to press their demands. The demonstration was a virtual replay of protests the police staged last October and November.

“I’ve been a police officer in Anaheim for 20 years and I have never, ever seen such deterioration (in the relationship) between the police officers and City Hall,” Det. Warner Raes said. “This city does not have enough cops, and the ones the city does have, their pride is slowly being taken away.”

Tuesday’s demonstration followed a “blue flu” sickout Jan. 18 and 19, in which 96% of the officers scheduled to work during a 24-hour shift participated by calling in sick. The city was forced to patrol its streets with officers from other cities and Anaheim police lieutenants.

The officers have been working without a contract since July, 1992, and have not had a raise since July, 1991. They say their salaries rank 18th among the 20 Orange County police departments. They accused the city of “stonewalling” the negotiations.

“Anything that makes the city look bad has an impact on the negotiations and all of this makes the city look bad,” said Bruce Bottolfson, the association’s president. “I don’t want the city to capitulate, all I want is a compromise.”

The officers are seeking a 10% raise through July, 1995, which would cost the city $7.5 million. The city has offered a 10% to 11.5% increase by July, 1996, which would cost the city $5.2 million.

The officers want a 4% raise immediately, a 2% raise in July and a 4% raise next January. The city is offering raises of 3.25% now, 3.25% next year and an increase in 1996 of 3.5% to 5%, depending on the inflation rate. The city would also give each officer an immediate $750 bonus for accepting the contract.

City officials have insisted that they cannot afford to meet the union’s demands and said the union’s demonstrations will not influence their offer. The city is already projecting an $8-million budget deficit in its $135-million 1994-95 fiscal year budget.

“Our offer is a fair one,” City Councilman Irv Pickler said. “Negotiating is a two-way street and the officers need to meet us halfway. The police (union) owes it to the city to sit down at the bargaining table.”