|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
In the late 1800’s, Samuel Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor to create fairness in the workplace through collective bargaining between labor and management.
This led to the creation of labor unions that spanned virtually every sector of employment.
The idea of labor and management working cooperatively so that each side’s issues could be discussed and resolved has led to “labor peace” among many industries through the years.
While much more popular in the Northeast and Midwest, labor unions in Florida are still active today, mostly within the public sector. There is an active labor union for employees of Pinecrest, with the village’s law enforcement officers and sergeants being members of the Police Benevolent Association (PBA). The PBA represents law enforcement officers across Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties.
Unlike in other states, public labor unions in Florida are far more limited to the they can engage in. The state Constitution correctly precludes public employees from striking. It would be illegal for school teachers in Florida, for example, to go on strike like their counterparts in Ohio recently did.
This provides opportunities and challenges for both labor and management to reach amicable resolutions to labor disputes. Nevertheless, it is the exception rather than the rule that labor and management do not ultimately reach resolutions to their issues without outside entities becoming involved. In the unlikely event that an agreement becomes impossible to achieve, the parties are at impasse, and they begin the “Impasse” procedure prescribed in Florida law.
Despite its overall rarity, during the past seven years, the Village of Pinecrest and its law enforcement officers have been through the impasse procedure three times – 2016, 2019 and now in 2022. Legal filings from both the village and the PBA indicate that most of the unresolved issues have occurred during each impasse. In general, the village contends that it is very conservative fiscally and, therefore, unwilling, even though able, to fund the PBA’s proposals for xxx. The PBA contends that these proposals only seek to provide the basic benefits that law enforcement officers receive state-wide, such as take-home vehicles.
While there is no doubt as to the conservative nature of village finances, which has enabled Pinecrest to keep property tax rates low, evidence submitted by the PBA, which the Village does not contest, indicates that during the past decade the Village has increased its revenue from property taxes alone by approximately 60 percent, while law enforcement wage increases over the last decade only increased by approximately 30 percent. That is 3 percent per year, which includes both merit increases and cost of living adjustments, the combination of which generally comprise the total wage increases of law enforcement officers nationwide.
Reviewing wages and benefits from other agencies in the Miami-Dade area illustrates that Pinecrest officers do not receive the level of compensation and benefits their colleagues in neighboring municipalities or throughout Miami-Dade County routinely receive. In this day and age, where the focus on policing in this country has never been more scrutinized, it is crucial that any employer hire and retain the best candidates to fill available positions.
During a time when it is becoming more and more difficult to hire, it is undeniable that the best possible compensation package must be offered to recruit and retain what the Village expects – the best.
To that end, let the call go out to the village council and village manager to reaffirm the commitment once made by their predecessors: to make public safety the number one priority. Do not forget why the village originally incorporated and created its own police department. Pinecrest should not be a revolving door, or simply a training ground for other departments. It is in the village’s best interest to retain officers, pay them what they deserve and resolve this current impasse situation in a fair manner. During the past several years, the men and women of the Pinecrest Police Department have done a remarkable job and deserve to receive a compensation and benefits package commensurate to that afforded to other officers in South Florida.
To see more #Miaminews from #Aventura to #Coralgables to #SouthMiami, #Pinecrest, #Palmetto Bay and #Cutler Bay and all throughout #Miamidadecounty go to:
www.communitynewspapers.com
Comments are closed.