The City of Orlando's Mayor Tries A Smoke Screen

Orlando, FL — The Mayor and his staff continue to try to confuse the public and the media on the Orlando Police Officers Longevity Pay dispute by taking the position that they believed the payment amount was a subject of the negotiations for a new police contract. Nothing could be further from the truth. From the beginning and without exception, the Fraternal Order of Police has demanded the City make the Longevity Payment due to the officers for fiscal year 2003/2004 in the amount set forth in Article 44 of the 2001-2004 police contract which was finalized in 2001 and cannot be renegotiated.

The Fraternal Order of Police views the City's concocted confusion over Article 44 as an effort to justify the Mayor's withholding of the Longevity Payment in retaliation for the October 5, 2004 highly publicized demonstration by approximately 50 Police Officers outside City Hall. After the demonstration, the City declared impasse and informed the Fraternal Order of Police the Longevity Payments were not going to be paid.

The Fraternal Order of Police grieved the City's refusal to pay the Longevity Pay to Police Chief Michael McCoy whose decision was due last Thursday. In a meeting with The Fraternal Order of Police on Thursday, Chief McCoy indicated Mayor Dyer would meet with FOP officials in an effort to resolve the dispute and get the parties back to the table. Accordingly, the FOP agreed to two requests by Chief McCoy for additional time to render his decision in the hope the longevity pay dispute could be resolved. However, on Monday, Chief McCoy informed the Fraternal Order of Police that the Mayor would not meet with FOP representatives.

Every attempt has been made by the Fraternal Order of Police to amicably resolve the Longevity Payment issue and the FOP will now seek binding arbitration to force the City of Orlando to pay the contractually obligated payments to its officers.

The Longevity Payment issue in no way affects the current 2004 Contract Negotiations, which are now at impasse, and we will gladly meet with the City of Orlando to re-open the 2004 Contract Negotiations if the City so desires.

Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 25 President Jeff Williams or Labor Committee Chairman Sam Hoffman will be available for comment and can be reached at the following cellular phone numbers; Sam Hoffman (407) 832-1975, Jeff Williams (407) 832-1973.

For more information visit
http://www.fop25.com
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