City, police union wait for arbitration ruling

KINGSTON, N.Y. » The city and its police union still are awaiting the outcome of arbitration to settle a dispute over a new labor agreement.

In an email message Wednesday, Mayor Steve Noble said the city expects to have a decision from the arbitration panel “in the coming weeks.”

Noble also said city officials had not had “any substantial conversations” with the unions that represent members of Kingston’s fire department and Civil Service Employees Association since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and there are no meetings currently on the calendar to begin negotiations with those two unions.

In January, the Common Council adopted a resolution authorizing Noble to allow the arbitration panel to finalize the terms of a new four-year agreement with the Kingston Police Benevolent Association. Much of that deal was to be retroactive because the police union’s last current contract expired at the end of 2016.

PBA President Bryan Aitken declined to comment Wednesday on the pending arbitration proceedings.

The city and police union went to arbitration after failing to reach a new agreement during negotiations. That decision followed a proposed deal the city offered through a mediator in December 2018 that was narrowly defeated by union members.

The PBA represents 70 Kingston Police Department employees.

In 2018, the city was successful in reaching contract agreements with the unions that represent city firefighters and civil service employees. The threeyear pact with the Kingston Professional Firefighters Association, however, only ran through the end of 2019 because part of the deal was retroactive.

A four-year agreement with the Civil Service Employees Association runs through the end of this year. The CSEA is the city’s largest employee union.