Officers in the Department of Public Safety are hoping a new union will give members enhanced benefits, as they plan to begin negotiations in the upcoming weeks with Syracuse University officials on the formation of the SU Public Safety Officers union.

For almost four years, DPS was part of a national organization called the International Union, Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America. But the union was not very helpful to DPS officers, said DPS officer Jonathan LeBaron, president of the former and current union.

‘They were more about taking our union dues,’ LeBaron said.

Some DPS officers said they are hoping for higher pay and more time off from work as a result of the new union.

DPS officers referred to the old union as a ‘Mickey Mouse union’ because it also handled unionizing workers at Disney World, LeBaron said.

The base salary for DPS officers is 33 percent lower than those of other area law enforcement officials, despite the fact that officers are dispatched beyond the university area and will soon be able to run license and give tickets like other area law officials, LeBaron said.

The Buffalo chapter of the National Labor Relations Board certified the union Jan. 16, said Paul Murphy, assistant to the regional director for the board.

Included in the union are all full-time and regular part-time safety officers, community service officers and communication specialists employed by DPS and working on SU’s campus, according to paperwork filed with the board. The current contract for the group expired Dec. 20, 2009, according to the document obtained by The Daily Orange.

The university will have to go through DPS’ union to discuss the terms and services of employment, such as wages, benefits and work hours, Murphy said. It is up to the university and DPS to come to an agreement on benefits and pay.

‘As far as we’re concerned, it’s full speed ahead for the both of them,’ Murphy said.

The university pays the salary of DPS employees and is open to their suggestion to start negotiations soon, said Kevin Quinn, senior vice president of public affairs at SU. But beyond the negotiation process, the union operates independently from the university, Quinn said.

The new union will be an affiliate of Council 82 in Auburn, N.Y., said LeBaron, the union president. Council 82 will handle all negotiations for DPS, and should a DPS officer need a lawyer, the council will be able to provide one 24/7, LeBaron said. This is something the old union did not offer, he said.

DPS went without a union for a year, a requirement of forming the new union, LeBaron said. There was a sense of nervousness during this time, but the university and DPS management continued to follow the contract, LeBaron said. Two officers were fired last year, but they had already been on probation, LeBaron said.

‘Everybody played by the rules,’ he said.

Still, there are some changes LeBaron said he and the other officers hope to see. Within the next week, DPS will be scheduling negotiations with the university, LeBaron said. He did not know how long or exactly when they would take place.

Whereas DPS’ management staff has unlimited sick time, officers do not. LeBaron also said he would like to see a change in how overtime hours are paid, such as getting additional time off instead of receiving $32 an hour for overtime.

DPS officers would also like to see a pay increase and a better retirement plan, LeBaron said. Traditionally, the university has siphoned 12 percent of an officer’s weekly salary into a retirement account, but last year it was cut down to 11 percent, LeBaron said. Officers are also not allowed to decide how much they contribute to the fund. LeBaron said he would like to see this change.

‘We need to make sure we are getting a fair contract,’ DPS officer Jeremy Welling said.

Welling has been with DPS for three and a half years and said the old union ‘didn’t do too much.’ The new union will hopefully result in a pay increase and more sick time, said Welling, who works 40 hours a week on Thursdays through Sundays patrolling North and South campuses.

As an officer, Welling gets 48 hours of sick time a year, but this isn’t enough considering officers work 10-hour days, he said. DPS is the third largest law enforcement agency in the area and deserves to be paid similar wages to other area law enforcement agents, he said.

Welling said he made significantly more working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a lead supervisor for the Transportation Security Administration, but he joined DPS for the educational benefits his three children would receive.

If he did receive more sick time, he said he would like to spend it with his children and wife. The family typically spends one week in July in Cape Cod, Mass.

Welling said he was happy DPS had formed the new union, but he was unsure what would be the outcome of talks with the university. He said he did not expect major problems with negotiations. For the year DPS went without a union, he said he did not notice a change in how the university treated the officers.

‘It’s going to be a negotiation,’ Welling said. ‘We’re going to have to give a little to take a little.’

dkmcbrid@syr.edu

 

Published on February 5, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Dara: dkmcbrid@syr.edu | @daramcbride