City, police commanders reach new labor deal
Proposal includes retroactive 1-percent pay hikes, higher co-pays
TROY, N.Y. » The city has reached a tentative labor agreement with the Command Officers Association of Troy, which covers the Troy Police Department’s eight captains, Mayor Patrick Madden announced Monday.
As with an agreement reached earlier this year with the Troy Police Benevolent Association, the proposal only covers the past five years, during which all six of the city’s employee unions were operating under terms of contracts that expired at the end of 2012. With the past years dealt with, the administration — as was the case after similar deals with the PBA, as well as a 2016 agreement with the city’s firefighters union that expired at the end of that year — moving on to negotiate new deals.
“The agreement between the city of Troy and the Command Officers Association of Troy is [a] fair, responsible solution that acknowledges the important contributions of our law enforcement leadership while effectively managing city tax dollars to keep Troy residents safe,” Madden said in a news release a n nounc - ing the deal.
“My administration remains fully committed to addressing the remaining outstanding labor contracts with the city’s bargaining units.”
The command officers would receive under their proposal 1 percent retroactive salary increases for 2016 and 2017, but nothing for the first three years. The group also agreed to in- creased co-payments within their health insurance plan.
“We were able to agree on a contract which I feel has value for not only the police captains, but for the city, as well, especially in these difficult economic times,” said Capt. Rick Sprague, president of the Command Officers Association of Troy, in the release.
The proposed agreement was ratified by union membership last month, while the City Council will vote on the deal at its monthly meeting Thursday night after its Finance Committee, which includes all nine council members, approved the deal at its meeting Wednesday.