Updated contract would lower starting salary for new Jeannette police officers

An arbitration decision calls for wages for new Jeannette police officers to decrease in an updated contract, a change that concerns union representatives.

Under the pact that expired Dec. 31, new officers hired in 2024 earned a percentage of the $78,502 base rate their first year, based on experience, and then got annual wage increases of 7.5%. The lowest amount a new officer would earn was $55,000, or 70% of the base. Officials hoped in 2021, when the contract was finalized, it would be an incentive for new officers to join the department.

An August arbitration decision calls for new officers this year to start at $52,000 with the maximum amount any new hire could make is $65,000, based on experience. Municipalities smaller than Jeannette with less call volume offer better pay and benefits, said Officer Bryan DeFelice and Sgt. Jim Phillips, president and vice president, respectively, of the Jeannette Police Officers’ Benefit Association.

“Our major concern is that if we are unable to hire and/or retain officers, where does that leave the Jeannette community?” they said in a joint statement.

After negotiations between the city and bargaining unit were not successful, a hearing was held with an arbitrator from the American Arbitration Association in April, according to the award that would be retroactive to Jan. 1. If it is not appealed, the award will go into effect automatically and would run through Dec. 31, 2028.

“It’s an arbitration award that neither side got exactly what they wanted,” said city manager Ethan Keedy.

“The award essentially is as fair as it can be given the options the arbitrator had,” DeFelice and Phillips said.

It calls for current officers to get 3% wage increases annually through the length of the agreement. The previous contract carried 2.5% annual pay hikes. DeFelice and Phillips said the union was looking for significant pay bumps to be more competitive with police departments in the area and additional time off. The award would allow officers to accrue up to 24 hours of compensatory time off instead of overtime pay, an option that wasn’t available in the previous contract.

Keedy said city officials were seeking to change officers’ schedules to 12-hour workdays, a move that other departments in the area have made recently, in an effort to help reduce overtime costs. That was not part of the arbitration award and officers’ shifts remain at 8 hours.

“That was probably the main thing we wanted,” Keedy said.

Meanwhile, the force continues to struggle with attracting new hires, something local departments have been experiencing for years. Council on Thursday authorized civil service testing as police Chief Derek Manley said he expects two officers to leave the force.

Civil service tests can put those who successfully pass a physical and written exam on a list of potential candidates for hire. That list can remain valid for a certain period of time and more hires can be made from it as jobs open up.

“There is a real shortage of police candidates, just not in Jeannette,” said Mayor Curtis Antoniak.

On Thursday, he said the department has nine officers who are working 16-hour shifts. The department typically has 12 officers.

DeFelice and Phillips said the force has been lacking officers for the past year and questioned how long they can continue working extended shifts.

“The Jeannette Police Officers’ Benefit Association’s standpoint is that we are at the tipping point of a crisis in regard to staffing,” they said. “Where will that leave the future of the City of Jeannette? The businesses we do have? The people who live here that have relied on our police department to respond within three to five minutes of being dispatched?”