Cincinnati City Council Sept. 5 approved 2 percent cost of living pay increases for the next two fiscal years for Cincinnati Police officers represented by the Fraternal Order of Police, as well as a number of other contract adjustments.
Those cost of living increases are estimated to cost $1.35 million a year. The raises sparked discussion in council committee earlier in the week about pay raises for other unionized employees, which the city is currently negotiating.
The city's budget stipulates those cost of living increases for other unionized city employees besides fire personnel would only be 1 percent, but that could change, Budget Director Christopher Bingham told council committee. Some unexpected breathing room in the city's budget could clear the way for a better deal for unionized employees.
“We’re going through that process now," Bingham said. "We haven’t promised anything, but this is all part of the process where AFSCME and CODE (other unions for city employees) and the FOP present what they’re asking for and then we counter with what we want to fund.”
The city has already approved 2 percent cost of living increases for employees represented by the Cincinnati Fire Department's union. Bingham said it is close to approval of AFSCME's contract, but not quite there.
Some council members want to make sure that other employees get 2 percent raises.
"We have to start changing that narrative… that police are more important than other departments,” said council member Tamaya Dennard, who voted against the FOP contract adjustments.
Even if employees represented by unions all got across-the-board 2 percent raises, council member P.G. Sittenfeld said, that wouldn't necessarily translate to the same boost in earnings. Sittenfeld said he did agree with the "broad strokes" of the FOP contract agreement and thought that 2 percent across the board was a good place to land. But he pointed out that a 2 percent cost of living increase for a police officer making $100,000 isn't the same as a sanitation worker making $50,000 a year.
“People don’t put food on the table with percentages," Sittenfeld said. "They do it with cash."
Council member Greg Landsman wants council's priorities on pay reflected in the next budget, he says.
"If we are going 2 percent across the board, the documents should reflect that so people know," he said. "As we move forward with the next budget, my sense is this council will want to figure out a way to pay people what they’re worth across the board. The salaries are probably not where they need to be when you have employees working as hard as our (Department of Public Services) employees are.”
Bingham told council that in the past, public safety employees have often gotten larger cost of living increases. He called that a "starting point," but said the city would adjust as contract negotiations go forward.
The FOP contract changes approved by council committee also included $271,000 in other adjustments for non-supervisory officers, including increased pay for officers that have been on the force for more than 19 years, an increase from 1 percent to 1.5 percent in extra pay for officers with special certifications, changes to sick time and health insurance policy, and more.
