Raises approved for Tacoma police, but TPD budget reductions might be in the offing
Tacoma City Council approved a contract extension with Tacoma police this week that includes wage increases of 4 percent retroactive to Jan. 1, 2020.
Cost to the city totals $2.68 million for 343 budgeted, full-time positions represented by the Tacoma Police Union Local 6, I.U.P.A.
“The wage increase provided meets our obligation to meet market-based competitive wages for police officers,” John Henry, labor negotiator for the City of Tacoma, said at Tuesday’s meeting.
The starting pay for a police officer will increase from $32.22 to $33.51 an hour. The amended pay scale can reach up to $46.31 per hour, according to city documents.
The contract extension also includes 4 percent wage increases for 26 full-time equivalent positions represented by the Tacoma Police Management Association, Local 26 and Professional Public Safety Management Association, totaling $366,000.
Mayor Victoria Woodards said Tuesday the agreement with Local 6 is not a new one but a short extension to cover the rest of the year.
“The city and police union are going to immediately return to the table to begin to bargain again starting for a contract that would begin in January,” Woodards said. “What we bargained for is not an increase in police officers — we are still having budget conversations. But it is an increase in what we pay our police officers.”
The Tacoma Police Union Local 6 did not reply to a request for comment as of Friday afternoon but posted a statement on its Facebook page Wednesday, acknowledging the City Council’s approval of its contract extension and expressed concern for cuts to the budget.
“First and foremost we all need to be concerned with the proposed budget from the City Manager,” the post said. “It includes cutting 5 million dollars from our staffing. If you have any connections in the community I urge you to have discussions to get the information to the public so we can push back at these attempts to ‘Defund’ us. The politicians don’t want to use that term to avoid adversity for that decision, but that is exactly what it is. Time is of the essence as the budget will become final in the next few weeks.”
The city and the police union have been in contract negotiations with Local 6 for over 18 months, Woodards said. The current agreement with Tacoma Police Union Local 6 I.U.P.A. has an ending date of December 2019.
City spokesperson Maria Lee said in an email that protracted negotiations with police unions are not uncommon when the parties have many issues to discuss.
“While this is not ideal, it provides time for the parties to ‘get it right,’” Lee said in an email. “Progress on the most recent bargain was also hampered by logistical and financial hurdles as a result of the pandemic.”
The two parties already have bargained on body cameras, which are expected to roll out in January for use by patrol officers sometime in March 2021.
There’s still more to be negotiated.
“The City is committed to anti-racist transformation, with the first stated priority being local policing,” Lee said. “The City is currently evaluating any and all elements of the current collective bargaining agreement and TPD policy that prevent the City from recruiting, retaining and holding accountable the best police force possible. In addition we anticipate facing customary challenges like maintaining market competitive wages and addressing the rising cost of health insurance.”
The 4 percent increase in wages will continue into the new year due to the “status quo” requirements of WA state’s collective bargaining statute, RCW 41.56.
Wages effective for 2021 will be determined by the outcome of the negotiations starting in January.
