WEST WINDSOR — The township will reimburse two officers for their helicopter flight lessons one last time to attain financially immunity toward any further flight technology college courses taken by members of the PBA Local 271.
With a 4-1 vote, the Township Council on March 11 passed a resolution cementing a recent settlement struck by the administration and police union.
Under the deal, the township would front the additional $38,407 it had originally refused to pay last year, bringing the grand total to about $50,000 in aviation classes.
In return, the two officers along with the rest of local 271 agreed to pursue any kind of desired aviation technology courses on their own dime.
Lone dissenter Councilman Bryan Maher refused to give his vote, citing it was inappropriate for taxpayers to pay the sum and that the two officers had pushed the envelope of acceptability too far.
”The contract that was initially agreed to that allowed these employees to take classes in whatever they wanted should have never happened to begin with; those in power had the position to do something at the time and they chose not to,” said Mr. Maher in a phone interview. “They should stand up and take responsibility and instead they like to sweep it under the rug and pretend it didn’t happen.”
Dave DeFillipo, the union’s attorney, emphasized the township knew the officers’ requests were well within their contract rights because it had been reimbursing the officers prior to 2012. However, he thought the settlement was fair for both sides.
”The officers took into account the interest of the public and the taxpayers,” said Mr. DeFillipo. “If we pursued the matter in arbitration, we stood a good chance of winning, but we decided to look at it from all perspectives and reconsider our position – for that, the officers should be commended.”
The township has been trying to unshackle itself from these helicopter lesson reimbursements since last year. Residents and elected officials alike cited the officers in question were taking advantage of the tuition reimbursement clause included in the union’s three-year contract, which went into effect in 2010.
The contract, which was awarded by an arbitrator, required the township to fully reimburse officers for any kind of courses taken in a higher learning institution. However, the township doesn’t own a helicopter and people argued the lessons were irrelevant to the field of law enforcement.
Now that contract is up and the union and township are once again in negotiations for a new one. To prevent another similar controversy, Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said the administration is pushing for a contract that would restrict tuition reimbursements to courses related to criminal justice and law enforcement.
He said he would also like to see a cap on the tuition amount that would be based on what public colleges such as Rutgers University charge per course. This would require officers to pay any tuition differences should they choose to attend a private institution.
Mr. DeFillipo said the union is looking to maintain its place in the county compensation and salary-wise.
”We want to arrive at a deal that makes sense for the town and taxpayers,” he added. “But the West Windsor guys are very hard working and provide round-the-clock service and deserve a fair, equitable contract and that’s what we’re going to try to attain.”
Both the administration and the union are confident they won’t need to go to arbitration and will be able to reach an agreement in a month or two.
To further protect the township, under executive order, Mayor Hsueh said he created a new policy that would require all town employees requesting college course reimbursements to get prior approval from the business administrator.
The policy attempts to protect taxpayers and promote reimbursements to employees for courses related to their fields. However, it could potentially violate current or future contract terms — particularly ones that might be approved by a state-appointed arbitrator.
However, the mayor appeared confident it would never reach that level.
”Employees have the right to contest, but usually they won’t if they know this is a policy in the township,” said Mayor Hsueh. “I expect the employees who look into it will be reluctant to jump through all these hoops.”
Source: http://www.centraljersey.com
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