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Miami police sue city over emergency pay cuts
NEW YORK |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Miami police union sued the city this week for abandoning their collective bargaining agreement and pushing through emergency pay and pension plan cuts.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Miami Dade County, the Fraternal Order of Police said the city should void the cuts and come up with other ways to fill a $105 million budget gap, like stepping up its collections enforcement.
Miami declared a "financial emergency" in July and said the city could not fund the terms of its current police contract, which was due to expire at the end of September.
"The salary and benefit reductions adopted by the city commission deprived the FOP of its ability to negotiate on behalf of the members of its bargaining unit," the lawsuit said.
A spokesman for Mayor Tomas Regalado said he "is confident the city will prevail."
(Reporting by Edith Honan; Additional reporting by Joan Gralla; Editing by James Dalgleish)
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While I understand the city is grasping for life lines, I also believe that this is a “slippery slope.”
If any entity can void a contract when their budget is tight, then fairness would also dictate that any entity whose economic position improves should then be forced to give an increase to their union work force even if it was not covered in the contract. After all contract negotions are supposed to be fair to both sides.
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