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Negotiation talks take place during a time for possible for layoffs

FOP and administration meet to iron out contract creases

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Negotiation talks between Fraternal Order of Police and the University administration took place Friday afternoon, the same day the Board of Trustees mailed out a notice that layoffs were on the way.

The layoffs could affect unidentified civil service employees of the FOP unit, which represents SIUC’s police officers. The unit has been operating with seven fewer bodies than what the 44-officer University budget calls for.

University spokeswoman Sue Davis said that most offices on campus have open positions right now. And although the police department has not had a full force for several years, Davis said it is not unusual to have positions open that long.

Bill Mehrtens, FOP field representative, said that although he knows the department has budget shortfalls, it is unclear as to why the police positions called for in the budget have not been filled for several years.

“We never seem to get a good answer from the University,” Mehrtens said.

Both sides met with an arbitrator to orally present their case in an attempt to settle a contract dispute that has been ongoing for more than 20 months. State law prohibits officers from striking.

Davis said the administration does not know if the layoffs will be necessary. The state recently ordered SIUC put $18.2 million in reserves to cut if necessary. Davis said the letter was sent out because their contract requires notice if a possibility of layoffs might happen.

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“It was something we did uniformly. It wasn’t related to the negotiations or the hearing,” Davis said. “It was something done totally separate.”

Mehrtens said he did not receive the notice until Saturday and is not sure why the possibility of layoffs was not brought up at Friday’s meeting.

The meeting came after being pushed back in November at the request of administration to allow time for negotiations with the faculty union, which were settled in February.

Mehrtens was angry about that decision and continuously stressed he was ready to sit back down at the table.

“We had the trial, presented the case to the arbitrator and we are confident he is going to rule in our favor,” Mehrtens said.

Movement on a labor contract for the SIUC Police Department have been broken down since last December when the two sides failed to reach an agreement on salary increases and staffing. Agreements have been reached on some non-economic issues.

The FOP proposed an 8-percent increase for fiscal year 2003 ending June 30 that would have been paid retroactively. The University responded with an offer of a 6-percent increase and no pay increase for the subsequent years.

FOP figures show the pay for SIUC police officers with one year of experience is nearly $2,000 below that at SIU-Edwardsville. An SIUC officer with 15 years of experience is paid almost $5,000 less than an officer with similar experience at SIUE.

“We believe the history of arbitration decisions indicate you compare apples to apples, university to university, cities to cities and counties to counties,” Mehrtens said.

The University, however, said that it is not fair to compare SIU to other universities. Instead, SIUC police officer’s salaries should be compared to small southern Illinois communities, such as Benton and Carterville, Davis said.

In the next step, attorneys will file briefs within 45 days with arbitrator Lamont Stallworth of Loyola University in Chicago. The arbitrator then has 60 days to make a decision.

Davis said the University does not expect to hear anything for 120 to 180 days.

Reporter Jackie Keane can be reached at [email protected]