No. 103, Jan. 4-10, 2001

FRONT PAGE
COMMENTARY
LETTERS
LOCAL & REGIONAL
NATIONAL
WORLD
LABOR
ENVIRONMENT
NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL
AGR RESOURCE GUIDE
About AGR
Subscribe
Contact



Civil Service Board dismisses police grievance

By Adam Baylus

Asheville, NC, Jan. 3— The Civil Service Board voted 4-0 to dismiss a grievance filed by nearly 30 Asheville Police Officers, who claim that the Police Department’s practice of paying only new recruits salary compensation for post-secondary degrees is unfair and unjust.

After three hours of testimony and closing arguments by both attorneys, Board member Jesse Warren asked for private discussion among the Board. However, Board Attorney William Slawter indicated that a closed session was not legal in this case.

No further discussion took place and Alfred Thomas made a barely audible motion, which stated that the officers were not “denied a pay raise to which he or she is entitled,” and consequently dismissed the case. Once the court reporter was clear about the motion, Sophie Dixon seconded, and the unanimous vote followed.

Board member George Bancroft, who questioned the merits of the policy last month, was absent from today’s proceedings. The officers, represented by attorney Michelle Rippon, had the option to postpone until Bancroft was available, but declined.

The City, represented by Assistant City Attorney Curt Euler, presented two arguments: that the Board has no jurisdiction to hear the case because no entitlement was refused to the aggrieved party, and that the City Manager, Jim Westbrook, was justified in dismissing the grievance because the City made no promise to pay current employees any compensation for Bachelors or Masters Degrees.

“Employees are not allowed to challenge hiring policies,” Euler stated.

According to Rippon, the practice, which the City refused to call “policy,” recognizes the value of four-year and Masters Degrees” and to be “uniform and fair” should apply to all in the Department.

Rippon attempted to illustrate that the cost of not awarding these officers a 5% pay increase for a Bachelors Degrees and a 10% pay increase for Masters Degrees retroactive to the date that the hiring practice was communicated to the Department by Police Chief Will Annarino on July 1,2000, is far less than the cost of replacing these officers who have received extensive advanced training at the City’s expense.

Most of the officers are part of the City’s Emergency Response Team. Two of the officers who testified estimated the cost of their additional training at between $10,000 and $20,000 each. One is a graduate of extensive sniper training — and is one of two officers in the department with such training. The other testifying officer receives on-going training as a canine officer.

Three of the officers who filed the grievance have already left the department, according to Rippon.

In questioning Human Resource Director Jeff Richardson, Rippon established that neither the City nor the Asheville Police Department anticipated the impact of this hiring practice, nor did they consider the cost of replacing nearly 30 officers, who Rippon described as “unhappy officers” who feel “unsupported, undervalued, and unappreciated.”

Based on an average salary of $28,000 for the officers, of whom all have Bachelors and one hav ing a Masters, Rippon asserted that the cost of giving the officers the same education compensation as the new recruits would be $2,500 per month retroactive to July 1, 2000.

Richardson concurred with previous testimony that the cost of training one new recruit is about $17,000, and Rippon illustrated that the “loss of just one [officer] would cost the City more than it would cost to give all 25 of them the 5% increase.”

The officers, who could appeal to Superior Court, declined to comment about the ruling or their plans.

 

back to top

FRONT PAGE | COMMENTARY | LETTERS | LOCAL & REGIONAL| NATIONAL | WORLD
LABOR | ENVIRONMENT
NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL | AGR RESOURCE GUIDE

about | subscribe | contact

Entire Contents Copyright 2001 Asheville Global Report.
Reprinting for non-profit purposes is permitted: Please credit the source.