Bridgeport cop contract passes by 15 votes
Bridgeport cops agree to forgo raises for 2 years

By AARON LEO
ConnPost Staff writer
Updated: 12/02/2008 12:38:15 AM EST

Bridgeport cop contract passes by 15 votes - Topix

BRIDGEPORT -- Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159 narrowly ratified a four-year contract Monday that gives no raises for the first two years, but rescinds laying off nine officers.

The vote was 156-141 out of 423 union members eligible to cast ballots.

The voting took place at the Miamogue Yacht Club on Seaview Avenue during the day and evening.

"We made out OK considering the national economic crisis," said Officer Frank Cuccaro, union president.

The pact, which must now go before the City Council for approval, is expected to save the city $800,000 in the current fiscal year, Elaine Ficarra, spokeswoman for Mayor Bill Finch, said in an e-mailed statement Monday night.

She said the deal includes no raises for the next two years, followed by 5.7 percent raises in year three and 4.8 percent in year four. The raises in years three and four will be implemented in half-year intervals. Also, take-home vehicles are to be eliminated at the discretion of the police chief, and holiday and vacation time payments will not be paid in the current fiscal year, she said.

Cuccaro disagreed with the figures on the raises for years three and four. He said they were 6 percent and 5 percent respectively.

"This contract is a good thing for the city and for the police union, and will provide the city with significant savings during the next two fiscal years. Their action is a terrific example of how the unions can work together with the city to effect budget savings, especially in the turbulent economic times we are facing," Finch said in the statement.

The previous contract expired last July 1, the beginning of the current fiscal year. Most contracts expire at the end of the fiscal year.

Bridgeport is facing a $20 million budget deficit, and Finch has asked for union givebacks totaling $8.9 million to help plug the hole. He had called for laying off 10 high-ranking officers, one of whom later retired.

But the remaining nine could have "bumped" lower-ranking officers, trickling down to the newest officers, a class of recruits sworn in two months ago.

The savings from the elimination of take-home cars, Finch has said, are expected to total anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000, depending on how many miles the officers drove the city vehicles for personal use. Savings may also come from acting Police Chief Joseph Gaudett Jr.'s new personnel deployment plan aimed at reducing overtime, Ficarra said.