Sunday, Jul. 12, 2009

East St. Louis police looking for new contract

EAST ST. LOUIS -- East St. Louis Police officers are looking for a new contract for 2009-2011, and they want city leaders to negotiate fairly and swiftly with them.

To bring public attention to the matter, about 30 members of the police department picketed Thursday evening outside City Hall on River Park Drive.

Dennis Butler, a past president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 126, said police want residents to know the city has failed to make their concerns a priority.

"The first thing they did when they got into financial crisis was to lay police officers off," he said, pointing out that no firefighters were laid off.

City leaders learned they would violate the firefighters' contract if they laid any of them off, Butler said.

"The police contract says we're suppose to have a minimum of nine police officers, one for each of the six districts we have, and a sergeant, a patrolman, and a field officer," he said.

Butler said he believes the city's payment of large amounts of overtime rather than using the money to hire police officers is mismanagement.

City leaders called an emergency meeting Friday to negotiate a new contract for the police officers for a three-year period.

Mayor Alvin Parks opened the meeting saying nearly all the discussion would take place in executive session. He said the city's ultimate goal is "to make sure the health and safety of the community is protected for a long time to come and in a fiscally respectful way."

Media, non-union police department members and city workers not designated to attend the meeting were asked to leave the council chambers.

A little more than an hour later, Bill Mehrtens and several officers emerged from the closed meeting. Mehrtens said negotiations for a new contract were under way but in the very initial phase.

"Their old contract expired Dec. 31, 2008," he said. "Currently, the officers are working under the terms of the old contract."

A clause in the police contract prohibits officers from striking. "We have proposals on the table that are not necessarily tied to a pay raise," he said.

Mehrtens said it is in the best interest of the police officers to try to negotiate a contract quickly. "We'll do everything in our power to expedite the negotiation and get a new contract," Mehrtens said.

City Attorney John Gilbert said the city's negotiating team is working to be prepared to conduct meaningful and swift negotiations. The bargaining team will seek to "preserve the city's fiscal health and provide a fair contract to the police officers," he said.

Gilbert said the team will meet Friday. Although all its members have not yet been selected, Gilbert said the Financial Advisory Authority, which oversees the city's spending, will participate for the first time.

Mehrtens said he and the officers will be back before the city July 29.