Sara-Megan Walsh
The Ledger
LAKELAND — An organization for Lakeland police officers has reached out to city officials asking for “pandemic pay” for working through the coronavirus.
Nick Marolda, president of West Central Florida Police Benevolent Association, sent a letter Tuesday to City Manager Tony Delgado and Lakeland Police Chief Ruben Garcia seeking extra pay for lieutenants, sergeants and officers working on the front lines against the virus.
“While the dangers of chasing bad guys into dark alleys and making ‘routine’ traffic stops are arguable, part of what law enforcement ‘signs up for’ the novel COVID-19 is not,” reads the April 14 letter.
Lakeland is joining in a larger effort with police associations and correctional workers to seek hazard pay for workers through the pandemic.
Delgado said the city’s law enforcement, firefighters, electric utility workers and others have received such wages in the past after a hurricane or tornado necessitated extended hours for recovery and cleanup.
The unknown duration of the coronavirus in the community adds an additional factor, according to Delgado. The city often has forewarning of a potential hurricane, or similar emergencies, that allows it to schedule teams in a way that minimizes the city’s emergency expenses.
“With the length of time this challenge will take and continue to go on, it will make an impact on our fiscal operations,” he said.
Delgado said the city’s hurricane expenses, including emergency personnel salary, are reimbursable from the Federal Emergency Management Agency if properly documented. It hasn’t been made clear if the personnel costs for COVID-19′s impact will be, according to Delgado.
The city and Lakeland police officers were already at odds over fair wages prior to COVID-19′s arrival in Polk. The police union’s three-year contract with Lakeland expired Sept. 30, 2019, and its members have continued working under the old terms — or “status quo” — until a new agreement could be struck.
The city and PBA’s negotiation teams sat down for more than nine hours March 13 at the RP Funding Center with a third-party arbitrator. No agreement could be reached. Marolda said the PBA has since declared an impasse and will bring the matter up before a judge.
“The danger of the coronavirus is something once again never contemplated and certainly not addressed in any collective bargaining agreement or state laws,” reads Marolda’s April 14 letter.
Delgado said the city has made a distinct difference between essential employees, those whose services are necessary for daily operation but can work from home, and those who are “mission critical” that need to show up daily, such as electric plant operators, firefighters and paramedics.
“We have a lot of mission critical employees,” Delgado said. “Whatever we do we have to take into account that we have others we would have to look at in a likewise manner.”
Marolda said he has been requested to come up with an “out of the box” proposal to present to Delgado and the city commissioners regarding what “pandemic pay” would look like.
Mayor Bill Mutz said he highly appreciates the efforts of those on the front lines, including the Lakeland Police Department, but didn’t feel their request was well-timed.
“I don’t think it is a reasonable request in light of the circumstances we are in because we could make a case for hazard pay for lots of people,” he said.