City, PBA agree to contract
New deal ends impasse dating back five years
TROY, N.Y. » The City Council’s Finance Committee is expected to vote at a Wednesday night meeting on a tentative labor contract that would end a nearly six-year impasse between the city and the Troy Police Benevolent and Protective Association.
Mayor Patrick Madden and new PBA President Nicholas Laviano announced the deal, which would cover the city’s 119 police officers, announced the agreement late Friday afternoon in a news release that provided few details of the deal, include its length. The news release did say, however, that all city officers and sergeants would receive a 2.01 percent salary increase when the contract takes effect Dec. 31, while the two sides agreed to unspecified concessions on health care, implementation of a timekeeping system and stipends for some department retirees.
“The successful resolution of this labor contract between the city of Troy and the Troy Police Benevolent Association demonstrates a willingness on both sides to reach a fair resolution to resolve longstanding labor-related issues,” Madden said in the news release. “This contract provides benefits and fair compensation for our professional and dedicated police officers and sergeants, while implementing new procedures to account for the financial challenges facing the city.
The tentative agreement was ratified by PBA members on Thursday and added late Friday to the agenda for the Finance Committee meeting already scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday..
“After working without a contract for nearly five years, the Troy PBA is pleased to achieve this fair and responsible labor agreement with the mayor that will again solidify Troy as the best police department in New York state,” said Laviano, who recently replaced Aaron Collington as PBA president after Collington abruptly resigned. “This process was not without its challenges, but the resulting contract demonstrates the mayor’s
appreciation for the service of all our officers, past and present, whose service and sacrifice make Troy a safer and better place to live and raise a family.”
Four of the city’s five
other labor unions are also working under contracts that expired in 2012, while a short-term agreement with unionized firefighters approved last year expired at the end of 2016.
“My administration will continue to seek equitable resolutions to all remaining outstanding labor agreements,” Madden said, “and
are optimistic about the active conversations currently underway with the city’s labor negotiating units.”
The city received approval earlier this year of an application for assistance from the state Financial Restructuring Board to resolve the expired PBA contract and to implement terms of the settlement.