FOP rejects another contract offer from city

The union that represents nearly 1,000 members of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police on Monday rejected a contract offer from the city, choosing instead to go to arbitration.

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 1 voted against a contract that would have given members a 2.5% pay increase but not back pay from Dec. 31, 2018, when the last contract expired.

Pat Knepp, vice president of FOP Lodge 1, said 361 members rejected the city’s officer, while 294 members voted in favor of it. He said 655 members cast votes out of a possible 991.

The voting took place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

An arbitrator last month awarded a contract from a separate contract offer that the city had made to the FOP. The city said that arbitrator’s award was fair, but the FOP derided it as a product of a flawed process.

That award, which the FOP may appeal, included retroactive pay raises for 2019, including a 1% raise effective Jan. 1 of that year, another 1% effective April 1, and 2% effective July 1.

Robert Swartzwelder, president of FOP Lodge 1, said at the time that he believed the raises were phased in to benefit the city, not the officers, who will only get modest amounts of back pay for the many hours of

overtime they worked in connection with the trial of former East Pittsburgh Officer Michael Rosfeld and subsequent protests.

The arbitrator’s award also included a 2% pay bump effective Jan. 1 and another 2% effective July 1. In 2021 and 2022, they are entitled to 3% raises on Jan. 1 and 1% at midyear.

Officer Swartzwelder did not return a call seeking comment Monday evening.

The FOP had pushed for a three-year contract, including 7% raises each year, to make up for 14 years of austerity when the city was under state Act 47 oversight for distressed municipalities.

Data provided by the union shows that Pittsburgh officers earned about 10% less than an average of their peers in 11 other midsized cities. Among Pennsylvania’s 10 biggest city departments, Pittsburgh’s officers ranked in the bottom three in base pay, longevity and holiday pay — along with Scranton and Reading.

Tim McNulty, a spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto, declined comment.