City Council Unanimously Votes Down Police Union Contracts

The Hoboken City Council unanimously decided to vote down two memorandums of understanding—one between the City of Hoboken and the Policemen's Benevolence Association and one between the City and the Police Superior Officer's Association—which would have settled labor union negotiations. 

The PBA and the PSOA have been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2007.

The tentative agreement, which was signed by State Fiscal Monitor Judy Tripodi on Jan. 13, would have included a 12.4 percent increase in salary for all officers and ranks. Because the officers have been without contracts for nearly 2.5 years, the retroactive pay would have been close to $3 million. 

This amount was not included in the almost $100 million budget that was passed during Wednesday's meeting. 

Council members said they couldn't vote in favor of the contracts, because they had almost no input in the negotiations, which took place between the labor unions and Tripodi. 

"As a council we never had the opportunity to cooperate," said Sixth Ward Councilman Nino Giacchi. "Before us we have nothing more than terms agreed on by Judy Tripodi."

Second Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason called the process "secretive."

The police compromised on issues such as health care and free days. Under the MOUs (which were voted down yesterday), all policemen would receive three personal days off, which would be non-payable if not used. The MOU also stated that all overtime would be paid in wages, as opposed to compensatory time, at the rate of time and a half.

City Council discussed the matter in a closed session Wednesday night, from which Councilwoman Theresa Castellano and Councilman Michael Russo recused themselves, because of conflicts of interest. Castellano's husband and Russo's brother are patrolmen in the Hoboken Police Department. 

Besides the lack of transparency and involvement by the council, members of the council said they also voted "no" because of the amount of retro-active pay.

"It's a very rich contract," said Council President Peter Cunningham. "We cannot afford it."