By John Woolfolk and Sean Webby
San Jose Mercury News
Facing the first layoff of officers in city history, San Jose police on Friday offered to slash their pay by 10 percent for a year in a bid to save the jobs of dozens of cops.
City officials said they appreciate the offer but noted that it’s not enough to avoid layoffs and may jeopardize deals with other workers.
The concession should save the jobs of 155 officers, but 106 out of a force of 1,200 still face the budget ax as the city grapples with a $115 million deficit.
“I don’t think we can prevent all of the layoffs,” acknowledged Jim Unland, vice president of the San Jose Police Officers’ Association.
City officials say temporary pay cuts do little to solve deficits that have stretched 10 straight years with no end in sight.
The new offer, however, marked a sharp turnaround from officers who have campaigned against the city’s threat to slash staffing unless the cops accept major concessions in pay and benefits. Police had maintained that city officials were putting public safety at risk.
Officers in recent years have offered to contribute more toward their retirement benefits, and last year temporarily trimmed their salaries about 4 percent to prevent layoffs.
But until Friday, officers had said 10 percent cuts were unacceptable. Their only offer to the city came a week ago and amounted to a net 5 percent reduction over two years, plus an optional reduced retirement plan and other changes. The city rejected it.
City officials said Friday that they needed to evaluate the offer privately. But Employee Relations Director Alex Gurza, the city’s chief negotiator, said a key concern is that the officers are offering to cut their pay 10 percent for only one year.
What’s more, the city has inked permanent 10 percent pay cuts with other unions, conditioned on the city not approving lesser concessions from others. It was unclear Friday whether approving the one-year cuts with the police would undermine those deals.
“Not that we didn’t appreciate the 10 percent,” Gurza said. But, he added, “we’re trying to avoid just pushing off the problem.”
Ten percent pay cuts from all the city’s workers would shave $38 million off the massive deficit. The proposed budget to be released by City Manager Debra Figone on Monday assumes those wage reductions will be in place -- but even so, more than 600 jobs are expected to be cut citywide.
The City Council can impose pay cuts on most workers but not police and firefighters, who have arbitration rights. Firefighters and four other unions have agreed to permanent 10 percent cuts.
Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio said the officers’ offer could help the city preserve vital public safety services, but he added that the council needs to think of other ways to economize, such as outsourcing things like park maintenance.
“Our challenge as a council is to find a way to do business differently so that we can hire more police officers,” he said.
Unland said officers are still hoping the City Council can cobble together additional funds to avoid laying off the 106 cops, who this week received letters from police Chief Chris Moore warning them that they could be laid off in late June.
Though the police offer may fall short of what city leaders want, Unland said officers aren’t wild about it either.
Patrol Officer James Gonzales said he would reluctantly approve it but that a 10 percent pay cut is a difficult blow for cops who have planned their lives around their current pay.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow emotionally and financially,” said Gonzales, 32. But, he said, “I realize the financial situation the city is in. I want to be part of the solution.”
Officer Juan Vallejo, who works in the homicide unit, said it will be tough to vote for such a deal knowing that more than 100 fellow officers stand a good chance of losing their jobs.
“The city has invested so much on these guys to be trained, and now they are going to be gone,” Vallejo said. “It doesn’t make sense.”
In addition to the 10 percent pay cut, the officers also offered a cheaper “second-tier” pension plan for future hires, plus an option for current officers to agree to reduced pensions.
Police said the reduced pension offer could save nearly $7 million in 2012 and more than $100 million over 16 years. But they acknowledged that they cannot say for sure how many officers would opt for reduced pensions.
The cops also offered to phase out a perk that allows retiring officers to cash out unused sick leave by capping accruals for existing officers. The city has seen sick-leave cashout costs more than double in five years to $14 million. But Gurza noted that there would be little immediate savings from that offer.
Copyright 2011 San Jose Mercury News