New Contract Would Give Albany Police 2% Raise, Add Salary Steps

A new Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Albany and the Albany Peace Officers' Association (APOA) would give police officers a 2 percent raise and add new salary steps if it is approved by the Albany City Council tonight.

According to a staff report on recent negotiations between the city and the union representing Albany Police Department officers, "The City of Albany and representatives of Albany Peace Officers’ Association (APOA) have met and conferred in good faith over the past 12 months, and have reached agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding for the period November 1, 2011 through October 31, 2014."

"City and APOA worked very hard on negotiating an agreement that tried to address both the stagnant economy and equitable wages for police officers and other APOA members that perform law enforcement and other public safety services.

"With the assistance of a professional mediator, the parties reached an agreement that addressed the primary concerns of the APOA and the City. The mediator has prepared a formal recommendation that includes all of the items incorporated into the agreement.

"The previous contract required employees pay a set percentage of their salary towards pension cost, and that continues in this contact. Recent pension reform measures have created lower tier formulas and higher employee contributions for new hires, which has reduced the City’s retirement costsfor these employees."

Th staff report listed the following as major changes in the new agreement:

• A salary increase of 2.0% in an effort to bring employees closer to the average pay for comparable positions in other San Pablo Corridor cities.

• The addition of a sixth salary step effective September 2013 and a seventh salary step effective September 2014. Each of these steps provides an increase of 3.0% over the preceding salary step. Employees typically advance after at least one year at the preceding step.

• Establishing an incentive for Dispatchers that reach a certain level of professional certification through POST (Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training).

The council meets at 7:30 p.m. today, Monday, in the City Hall council chambers, 1000 San Pablo Ave.

You may see the complete meeting agenda hereMOU and the staff report on the new contract.