YOUNGSTOWN – Not satisfied with the way labor negotiations with the city are going, members of the Police Patrol Union will demonstrate in front of City Hall next week.
In a letter to Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, James Rowley, president of the Youngstown Police Association, and Dan Leffler, senior legal advisor for the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, wrote that at the picket line: “We will educate the public about what the city is doing. or-leave-it negotiation strategy and your unfair wage proposal to our union members. “
The letter added: “We urge you to come to the negotiating table and negotiate an agreement that our city would be proud of. Youngstown’s men and women in blue took oaths to protect and serve their communities. Now is the time for your pay to reflect the integrity of your work. “
The pickets will be in front of the town hall on Wednesday, Friday and September 11th and 12th.
The union has objected to officers’ starting salaries, stating that they are too low, that it takes too many years to get higher wages and that the city is not hiring enough officers.
The union is considering hiring former Youngstown finance director David Bozanich, who was released from state prison on July 25, as a contract negotiation consultant for bribery and record tampering in connection with an illegal plan to transfer city funds.
“A union that would consider hiring David Bozanich would have information posts,” said Jeff Limbian, city law director. “Information strikes are an attempt to put political pressure on the mayor in election year. Honestly, it won’t work. It’s a cheap shot. “
The city is negotiating with the police union “in a fair and generous manner, and we are surprised that her chest is pounding,” he added.
Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said the union has the right to picket, but that usually happens “when all the information is out there and we are at a dead end – and we are not there yet”.
Brown said, “The offer we have on the table is the best in 10 years. I support our officials in getting fair and reasonable wages. “
The patrol union’s contract with the city expires on November 30th.
The patrol union signed a three-year contract in 2019 that saw an increase of 1 percent this year, 1.5 percent in 2020, and 1 percent this year – just like almost any other city union.
Before the contract was signed, the starting annual salary was $ 31,054, approximately $ 14.93 an hour. It’s now $ 34,307, roughly $ 16.49 an hour.
During the last contract a year was cut to receive the peak pay, so it now takes 11 years to reach the highest annual salary of $ 58,320, which is roughly $ 28.03 per hour.
An official with five years of service in Youngstown makes about $ 38,000 a year, while officials in similar sized Ohio cities make about $ 50,000 a year or more, union officials said.
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