A state arbitration panel approved Monday a long-awaited pay raise for NYPD officers that includes back pay and increases the starting salary of rookie officers. The panel increased the starting salary of rookie officers from $25,100 to $35,881. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, among others, had criticized the low starting pay scale. The pay increase is retroactive for those hired since July 1, 2006.

The decision also increases the top pay for veterans from $59,588 to $65,382.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced today that a Public Employees Relations Board (PERB) Impasse Panel has issued an award covering over 23,000 Police Officers represented by the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA). The Mayor also announced that the City’s arbitrator concurred with the panel’s award while the PBA did not. This award covers a two-year period from August 1, 2004 through July 31, 2006 and raises starting salaries from $25,100 to $35,881 while funding raises for all Police Officers of 4.5% and 5%, predominantly by adding the pattern for the corresponding time period with substantial givebacks by the PBA. The basic maximum salary for a Police Officer will increase from the current $59,588 to $65,382 by the end of the contract. The general salary increase totals 9.73% when compounded, and the cost of enhancing the salary schedule for new hires is an additional .49%. These are offset by givebacks and productivity increases that total 2.81% for a net cost of 7.41%. The pattern for this period was 6.24%, which means the arbitrator created a 1.16% uniform differential for this round of bargaining. (While the numbers above appear to net to a 1.17% uniform differential because of rounding, the uniform differential is actually 1.16%.)

“This award goes a long way in addressing our concerns with the current starting salary for Police Officers,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “It also gives our dedicated and hardworking Police Officers much deserved raises. At the same time, the award provides savings through internal givebacks to best preserve the City’s financial position going forward. Funding collective bargaining agreements through productivity improvements which create flexibility for management has been a cornerstone of this Administration.”

“While we wished the starting pay was higher, this is step in right direction,” said Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly.

The City took the unusual step of filing for impasse with the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association on July 7, 2006 in an attempt to bring this contract to resolution. Beginning in November 2007, and continuing through January 2008, the three-person Impasse Panel held hearings over twelve days during which the City and the PBA each presented numerous witnesses and elicited voluminous testimony in support of their respective positions for a final and binding award to resolve the contract negotiations which had begun in August 2005.

“Our Police Officers’ unwavering dedication to duty, their commitment to facing any challenges, and their resolute approach to performing their jobs in a professional manner have helped the City of New York maintain its preeminent place among the world’s largest and safest cities. Because of this decision, we will be able to provide enhanced service to the public through the more efficient deployment of our police officers. As we have said all along, New Yorkers deserve a well-managed City government, and our City’s employees deserve and expect fair compensation. I would have preferred to negotiate a settlement with the PBA as we have with all other uniformed unions for this period since a negotiated settlement is always more desirable, but that requires both sides to come to the table,” said Mayor Bloomberg.