http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-sickout3dec09,0,3080332.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
By Zach Lowe
Staff Writer
December 9, 2006
STAMFORD - Police absences dropped back to normal levels yesterday, and city officials speculated the alleged police sickout was over after nine days and about $100,000 in overtime costs.
The police union has denied orchestrating a sickout or any work stoppage, which would be a violation of state law and the union contract.
City officials this week released statistics they described as strong evidence the union coordinated a sickout.
The statistics show an average of 23 officers called in sick each day over a three-day span last week - up from about four per day over the last six months.
Eighteen of 29 scheduled patrol officers called in sick for a single shift Tuesday, records show.
The number of sick calls declined to a half-dozen or less on shifts Thursday and yesterday, officials said.
"It appears to be over," said Dennis Murphy, the city's head labor negotiator.
The state will investigate whether the police union broke state labor law by encouraging or forcing officers to call in sick, officials said.
The union could face penalties ranging from fines to decertification, officials said.
The state's Board of Labor Relations is scheduled to hold hearings next month.
The city sent the board a petition yesterday urging it to order immediate relief from the sickout, Murphy said.
The city also filed a complaint with the American Association of Arbitration claiming the union violated a clause in its contract that bans any "walkout, picketing, stoppage of work . . . or any other interference with the operations and maintenance of the department," Murphy has said.
Officer Michael Merenda, president of the police union, issued another denial yesterday.
"I haven't seen any evidence that suggests the union organized a sickout," Merenda said.
The union has said the high number of absences is not unusual for winter months.
Union officials are researching the number of sick days officers took during recent winters, Merenda said.
The city will demand the union pay back overtime costs if the state labor relations board or American Association of Arbitration finds it orchestrated a sickout, Murphy has said.
The city is calculating how much it spent hiring officers at overtime rates to replace absentees during the alleged nine-day sickout, officials have said.
Murphy said the overtime cost is expected to approach $100,000.
The expense comes just weeks after Mayor Dannel Malloy and the city's Board of Finance expressed concerns over rising police overtime costs since last year.
The police department spent nearly $5 million on overtime in the 2005-06 fiscal year - an all-time high and an increase from about $3 million in 2004-05, budget records show.
The department has already spent more than half its $2.8 million overtime budget for the current fiscal year in its first four months, officials have said.
The spending prompted department-wide cuts in overtime and forced the city to request an extra $500,000 to supplement the overtime budget, officials have said.
The emergency request will not be enough to make up for overtime costs during the alleged sickout, said Peter Privitera, head of the city's Office of Policy and Management.
Officials will monitor absences over the weekend to make sure they do not climb again, Murphy said.
The city plans to ask the state labor board and a Superior Court judge during hearings later this month to order an immediate end to the alleged sickout if it continues.
"We are watching the entire department," Murphy said.
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