New York Law Journal, June, 27, 2008, Friday
The New York Law Journal
June 27, 2008, Friday
The New York Law JournalNEW YORK CITY police officers are walking their beats with more jingle in their pockets, thanks to a legal team from Kaye Scholer that partnered with Michael T. Murray, general counsel of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, in a state mandated arbitration proceeding.
On May 19, following 12 days of hearings and nearly a year of motion briefs, the police union was awarded wage increases of 10 percent over the next two years.
In a marked departure from collective bargaining history, Manhattan based arbitrator Susan T. Mackenzie rejected the city's argument that officers should he kept to so-called "pattern" increases of 3 percent and 3.15 percent accorded to the firefighters' union under their new contract.
The Kaye Scholer team was led by Jay W. Waks, chairman of the employment and labor law practice. He was assisted by partners Barry Wilmer, Jeffrey A. Fruisz and Arthur E. Brown; former partner John Howley; special counsel Peter M. Fishhein; associates Mark A. Beckman, Jacquelyn L. Sumer and Danielle J. Garrod; and senior legal assistant Mary Laurin.
For the first time since 1898, according to a statement from the Kaye Scholer team, "
Under the new contract, maximum base pay for police officers is $65,382, compared with $63,309 for firefighters. Starting pay under the new police contract is $35,881.
The arbitrator "recognized the increased duties, responsibilities and weightier requirements of the police job since the horrific events of 9/11 and the gross and growing pay disparities between the city's police officers and officers in other local jurisdictions," according to the firm's statement
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