Police, city squabble over lengthened work days

Officers say working longer helps public

A pilot project that extended police shifts by a bit more than an hour a day has sparked a small-scale war of words between Montreal’s police force and city hall, with front-page headlines and fullpage newspaper ads serving as weapons of choice.

The police union argues the longer shifts allow greater service to citizens during the witching hours of 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., and a better lifestyle for its officers. Police chief Marc Parent agreed, but said Wednesday the shift changes hurt the force’s overall ability to serve the public and must be scrapped.

The squabbling over the shift change, which police management said cost in the range of $2 million last year, is the tip of the iceberg in a budgetary battle the city is fighting with many of its employees that has, at its base, the millions of dollars to be paid into pension funds.

The clash began in late November when the union began negotiating with police management. Starting last year, 2,400 of Montreal police force’s 4,750 officers working in neighbourhood departments saw their shifts increased from 8.5 hours a day to 9.75 hours a day, which allowed some to work a threeday week some weeks and a four-day week the next. Officers average a 35-hour work week, and make $74,000 after six years of service.

It was the first change in shift hours since 1978, a period when there were no women police officers, said Yves Francoeur, president of the Fraternité des policiers et policières de Montréal. Now there are 1,400 of them, many of them young mothers. Not only was the change beneficial for officers, it allowed a 20- to 25-per-cent increase in the number of police available at night.

“The change was not only beneficial to police, it was good for the public,” Francoeur said, citing a Léger Marketing poll that indicated citizens were heavily in favour.

Talks with management regarding keeping the shift changes did not go well, however. In early December the Journal de Montréal blared the headline “Police want to hang on to their three-day work weeks ... but not their bosses.”

On Wednesday, the police brotherhood took out a fullpage ad in The Gazette and La Presse with the heading: “Are Montreal’s police officers privileged? NO.” It says the city of Montreal has implied the police force is not paying enough into its pension fund, leaving taxpayers to foot most of the bill, and that the shift changes are a privilege, when, in fact, the union says they are a boon to the populace.

While the longer shifts are popular with officers and do help during the evening shifts, they hampered duties police need to accomplish during the day, police chief Parent said.

“The work police have to do has become much more complex, incorporating drug addiction, the homeless, the mentally ill and prostitution and also in the criminal realm with street gangs and conjugal violence,” he said. To cope, police forces need to have teams of experts available during the day, in addition to alternative patrols working the ground on bike and foot, Parent said. The shift changes were taking manpower away from crucial daytime duties, he said, and forced many officers to work nights full time.

“It’s clear there were advantages and satisfaction of personnel was positive, but we have to analyze the rendering of the service to the public, along with the financial impact to the public,” Parent said, adding that the force will be returning to its old timetable in January.

For its part, the city of Montreal issued a release Wednesday noting that it is looking to cut $50 million a year in expenses by forcing city employees to pay more into their pension funds. A contract negotiated with the city’s bluecollar workers will reduce city payments by $6.3 million a year. The city is hoping to sign a similar deal with the police force’s 7,200 employees that will reduce payments by $18 million a year.

If it can’t come to an agreement, city officials say they will resort to using a negotiator or asking the Quebec government for help.

Union head Francoeur said it will resort to pressure tactics if management tries to alter the shift changes.