Serious question here, and I'm honestly not trying to break stones.
Sherri/Bo, you seem to know a lot about the city unions, so maybe you (or anyone else) can provide some answers.
Precisely what is 'Longevity Pay' relative to Scranton's Police? How does it work? What is is based on? Do the Firemen receive it as well? I read Stacy Brown's article this morning in the Sunday Tmes but I walked away somewhat confused as to what this is.
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Free Speech does't require a multi-paragrah disclaimer Mr. Pilchesky.
I think that it is a percentage of their pay for each year they have worked for the city ... I'm not sure who gets it ... I know that the at one time all of the unions got is ... although I am not quite sure if the clerical workers ever got it.
I don't know what the percentage is though ... and I know that new employees were not eligible for it ... they had to be employed for a certain amount of time before they got it.
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I want everyone to stop and think about one thing ... Joe Pilchesky is not a lawyer ... he's just a guy playing a lawyer on the internet. Please don't trust your legal needs to this man.
Aga, It's my understanding that longevity pay is addtional pay that increases the longer the worker is employed. The departments in the city have this because of the way their pay scales are structured. With rank or separate job classifications aside, a similar position with the city would pay the same exact salary to an employee regardless if that employee is employed 1 year or 30 years. All similar positions have the same salary base. Longevity pay is a benefit that increases throughout a career so experienced employees make more than a new hire for the same position.
According to a poster over there (hardcore), longevity pay increases 1% every two years with a maximum of 10%. So with simple math, an employee would have to work 20 years to reach the 10% max and that employee, based on a 40,000 salary would make 4,000 more than a new hire in the same position. Hope this helps.
I'm not sure if certain departments get it or if all departments get it. I do know that in the recovery plan, it calls for it to be cut for all new employees starting in 2002.
Thank you Shari ... I don't know if you helped Ag ... but I now know a bit more ... thanks again!
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I want everyone to stop and think about one thing ... Joe Pilchesky is not a lawyer ... he's just a guy playing a lawyer on the internet. Please don't trust your legal needs to this man.
So it in effect the salaries for non-new police officers do increase year to year as a result of the longevity pay. I'll bet many Scranton residents (such as myself before this thread) thought that every police officer was getting the same pay as they were years ago. Apparently that's simply not true. It's ironic that former officer Stulgis never mentions this pay whenever she discusses the state of contract negotiations during city council meetings.
Regardless, I do think that firemen and policemen do deserve at least cost-of-living raises, but based on the descriptions provided, longevity pay has be to considered in the mix when determining these costs. As for the "Bo", since we aim to be civil here (unlike the folks at DD), request granted.
-- Edited by Agamemnon at 17:26, 2007-11-25
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Free Speech does't require a multi-paragrah disclaimer Mr. Pilchesky.
Aga, sort of. I believe it takes a few years to start getting longevity pay, so some of the new hires may have not gotten it yet. Anyone at the max did not get a raise at all and some could have gotten up to 3% in the last 6 years. The best case scenario over 6 years on average equals a maximum of 1/2% per year for a certain group of employees depending on where they're at in their career. It's nothing to celebrate about. About $1,200 at best over 6 years before taxes.
or $200 per year on average over the 6 years gross. That calculates to $7.60 per check before taxes or $6.40 per two week check after taxes. It's doesn't make a big difference.
I think the best way to settle this issue so all can understand is to make a list of the city fire, police, and clerical workers, then post their actual salaries over the past 5 years. They could take out the names if the worker prefers and just show the salary for the years selected. This would show how much, if any, increases have been received.
Name ---------2002 -----2003 ------2004----2005---- 2006 Employee 1 Employee 2
-- Edited by IHavehadenoughofhaters at 08:23, 2007-11-28
