Sarasota police union asks for 'competitive' wages, anti-discrimination protection in contract

The Sarasota police union has been negotiating with the city on a new contract, and members say the city has rejected each of their proposals so far.

Union leaders say they are seeking competitive wages and want an anti-discrimination clause to be added to their contract.

“Without a competitive compensation plan to attract the most top-tier officers that we can find, we are potentially setting ourselves up for a public safety crisis,” said Eric Urbain, president of International Union of Police Associations Local 6045, at a press conference Monday morning.

He said that some applicants are turning down the offers they receive from SPD and some current employees are leaving for other jobs because of the department’s wages.

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Urbain said the union is asking that its members be paid what Tampa Police Department officers made two to three years ago.

Police officers at Step 1 of SPD’s pay scale, for example, currently make $55,826. The union is asking that that amount be increased to $66,991.

Sarasota city spokesman Jason Bartolone said the city won’t be discussing the specifics of proposals outside of the normal negotiation process.

The union is also seeking to add an anti-discrimination clause to its contract. These clauses protect employees from discrimination on the basis of characteristics such as race, gender and sexual orientation.

“We are trying to employ and be a diverse department,” Urbain said. “We’ve got officers within our department that identify as gay, trans. We’ve got a great, diverse department right now. We want to keep that. We want those people to feel valued.”

Officer Eric Urbain speaks to the media about some of the provisions the police union is seeking in their current contract negotiations with the City of Sarasota.
Officer Eric Urbain speaks to the media about some of the provisions the police union is seeking in their current contract negotiations with the City of Sarasota.

The city said in its statement that it doesn’t discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion and other characteristics.

“These classes are already protected under state and federal law as well as local ordinance, and the city abides by those regulations in all its employment-related decisions,” the city said.

Though these classes are already protected at the federal, state and local level, the union wants the clause to be in the contract because it would mean that issues involving discrimination would be resolved according to the union’s grievance and arbitration procedure. Discrimination issues are currently handled by the city’s human resources department.

Union leaders are also asking the city to negotiate with them in good faith.

“Each proposal that we have submitted has been rejected without much counterproposal, without much discussion and without much collective bargaining in the sense of speaking to one another, working towards one common goal,” Urbain said.

The city said that it has participated in multiple negotiation session with the union and has negotiated in good faith and in accordance with Florida Statute 447, which outlines collective bargaining practices.

“We have been active participants, responded to numerous proposals and listened to the IUPA members during the negotiations,” the city said. “We will continue to do so, as we do not see this as a win/lose proposal but an opportunity for both sides to present information and come to acceptable agreements.”

The city also said that public safety is “the highest priority for our city.” It noted that the City Commission approved the addition of 10 new police officer positions to its budget this year, an investment of approximately $1.2 million.

Anne Snabes covers city and county government for the Herald-Tribune. You can contact her at asnabes@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @a_snabes.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota police union asks for competitive pay during negotiations