Unionized state police officers seek pay increase

DES MOINES - Members of a union representing state law enforcement employees Monday requested 3 percent across-the-board pay increases for each of the next two fiscal years at the start of talks with state negotiators aimed at reaching agreement on a new two-year contract effective next July 1.

Jason Bardsley, a state trooper from Des Moines who is president of the State Police Officers Council (SPOC), said the initial contract offer to the state also called for boosting pay for members not at their maximum pay grade and changes in areas of health benefits, overtime policy, transfers and callback time, clothing and meal allowances and other workplace issues.

'I do believe it's a good starting point for us with the state,” said Bardsley, whose union represents about 600 Iowa State Troopers, special agents with the Division of Criminal Investigation and the Division of Narcotics Enforcement, state fire inspectors and agents, Iowa conservation officers, and Iowa park rangers. 'We felt that was fair to begin with.”

State officials are slated to make their initial proposal Nov. 21 for a contract slated to run from July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2019.

'We appreciate what they offered and we're going to enter into good-faith negotiations,” said Janet Phipps, director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services and lead state negotiator.

In discussing the bargaining unit's nine-page offer during Monday's meeting, SPOC executive director Sue Brown said the union was seeking flexibility for retiring members to be able to convert unused sick leave and vacation pay to defray health insurance costs and also wanted to boost a wellness incentive for members covered by insurance premiums split 80 percent/20 percent between the state and employees. The union also asked for $350 a month to cover living expenses for new troopers stationed in Polk County and increased pay for five to seven troopers working 'high-stress” night shifts.

SPOC - which includes about 360 state troopers of which 260 are patrolling state highways - is the smallest of three bargaining units representing state employees. State officials are slated to receive an initial contract proposal on Wednesday from the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 61, which is the largest bargaining unit with nearly 19,000 members.

During the last round of contract talks, AFSCME and the state went to binding arbitration which resulted in union members paying a share of their monthly health insurance premiums while receiving wage increases of about 6 percent over the life of the two-year contract that expires June 30, 2017.

Gov. Terry Branstad has indicated the state faces a tight budget for fiscal 2018. Earlier this month, officials with the state's Legislative Services Agency reported state revenue grew slightly in October, but the growth rate through the first four months of the current fiscal year is lagging significantly below the amount of tax that state officials estimated would be collected through next June 30.

Before the start of Monday's bargaining session, union and state negotiators observed a moment of silence for two Des Moines-area law officers who were killed in the line of duty last week.