Pittsburgh police union rejects Gainey’s final contract offer; matter heads to arbitration

The union that represents Pittsburgh police officers has rejected Mayor Ed Gainey’s final contract offer and the case will now head into arbitration ahead of a new contract term that is set to begin next year.

The offer included pay raises for officers that Gainey said would make their pay more competitive with other regions, changes to how compensatory time could be used and a disciplinary matrix that would more clearly define what actions could lead to termination or lesser disciplinary actions.

Even if a contract is not finalized through arbitration by the start of the new year, state law requires that police officers remain on the job until the arbitration process is complete.

Gainey said he was disappointed that the city’s final and best offer was rejected.

“We negotiated in good faith and believed that our proposal would have created a fair contract that would have helped us build the right type of policing to reflect the values of our city,” said Gainey.

Messages left for the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #1, the union that represents Pittsburgh police officers, were not returned.

On average, pay for all officers would have increased by 3% by 2024 and the same amount by 2025, according to the city’s final offer.

Under that offer, first-year officers would have received a pay raise of about 24%, going from $52,000 a year to $65,000 annually. Raises for more senior officers would have been less, with fourth-year officers being offered a raise of about 7%, sergeants about 8% and lieutenants about 6%.

Senior officers’ base salaries are significantly higher than first-year offices, with lieutenants making just over $101,000 in 2022, according to city budget figures.

Gainey said the raises were proposed to help retain officers and keep them from moving to other, better-paying cities. The Pittsburgh Police Bureau has said it has been struggling to attract and retain officers over the past couple of years.

“We proposed wages that would make our police salaries competitive with those of other police forces across the region, a step that would allow us to recruit and retain officers, while helping us to diversify our police force and promote the right type of policing our city needs,” Gainey said.

The mayor’s final offer also included a disciplinary matrix that Gainey said would have made the disciplinary process for officers “more fair, clear and transparent.”

His office didn’t provide specifics, but said it would have functioned similarly to a matrix used by Pennsylvania State Police.

Gainey said certain offenses such as “criminal acts or actions which directly contravene other, externally established standards of police behavior” would have resulted in termination without appeal.

Gainey ran for mayor last year on a platform that included firing and disciplining officers who commit police misconduct. This March, five officers were fired after a misconduct investigation following the death of Jim Rogers, a man who died after being struck by a taser multiple times in Bloomfield.

“It is unfortunate that FOP leadership couldn’t agree with us that officers who are found to have committed serious offenses such as stealing from taxpayers, belonging to terrorist organizations or abusing their partners are unfit to serve our city as police officers,” Gainey said. “The FOP chose to reject this path.”