Tensions mount in Rockaway Township as police push to replace expired contract
Tensions are mounting in Rockaway Township between the governing body and the police department, which has been working without a contract since the previous PBA agreement expired in December 2021.
Since then, negotiations have collapsed into a stalemate. In a move the union viewed as a pressure tactic, four new officers were told they would be paid the state minimum wage of $14.13 while training at the Morris County Police Academy until an agreement is reached, according to Rockaway Township PBA President Michael Hatzimihalis.
"They won't negotiate in good faith," Hatzimihalis told the Daily Record. "It's constantly a fight with these people."Police officers attended a recent township meeting to confront the mayor and council over the dispute. The issue is expected to come up again at Tuesday night's council meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The possibility of a minimum-wage stipend, Hatzimihalis said, proved to be an empty threat and the cadets are receiving the $51,000 annual salary rate stipulated by the expired contract.
But contracted "steps" in salary, or annual anniversary increases, were suspended for 11 veteran officers after negotiations between the township and PBA broke down late last year, Hatzimihalis said.
Mayor blasts 'irresponsible and untrue claims'
"It is important that Rockaway Township residents not be fooled by the irresponsible and untrue claims that PBA officials are making," Mayor Joseph Jackson wrote in a recent public Facebook post.
Meetings between the two parties began in early 2022 in what Hatzimihalis described as "what seemed like good-faith negotiations." But the talks soured in November when the administration demanded a switch to a state-sponsored health plan that the PBA objected to.
The talks came "to a screeching halt" when additional demands were made by administrators, Hatzimihalis said.
In February, the PBA filed a grievance with the state Public Employees Relations Commission, which granted interim relief to the PBA and an order to the township to "immediately, retroactive to December 2021, place all eligible unit employees on the appropriate step reflected in the salary schedule in the 2018-2021" collective bargaining agreement.
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The PERC ruling explained that the officers who were not moved up on the salary guide starting in December2021 were denied “so that the status quo was preserved pending negotiations of the step guide.”
"Rockaway Township is also ordered to negotiate in good faith toward a successor [Collective Negotiation Agreement] and on the issue of thesalary guide," commission designee Bryan Markward wrote in his ruling.
Hatzimihalis confronted Jackson at the April 25 township council meeting while many police officers stood in the gallery for support.
"All the PBA asks is to please come back to the negotiating table," Hatzimihalis said.
Jackson responded after the meeting with the statement posted on the township Facebook page. "PBA officials have made great efforts to claim that I do not support our police department; and have, somehow, weakened public safety in Rockaway Township," he wrote. "Nothing can be further from the truth."
Jackson's post listed several actions by the township to improve the department since he replaced former Mayor Michael Puzio, who resigned in January 22. Those actions, Jackson said, included the purchase of six new police vehicles, a fire/rescue boat, hiring the four new officers, processing the hire of two more and processing the promotions of two sergeants.
Reached by a reporter on Monday, the mayor said he would address the matter in further detail at Tuesday's council meeting.
William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com
Twitter: @wwesthoven
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Rockaway Township NJ police push to renew expired PBA contract
