Home 
Benefits & Services Attorney's Corner
Benefits & Services Attorney's Corner
Attorney's CornerWe asked our good friend Tom Troetti who has been here from the begining to write a monthly article. This is the first of what we hope are many. Tom is a practicing attorney with offices at 305 Old Tarrytown Road in White Plains. He began representing police unions in 1984 when he became the PBA attorney for the Greenburg Police Association. In addition to the Greenburgh PBA, he also represents the PBAs in New Rochelle, Scarsdale, North Castle, New Castle, Elmsford and Rye City. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On a crisp sunny October morning in 1989 I slowly pulled my car up to a diner with steamed pane glass windows in Mohegan Lake, where I meet New Castle Police Sergeant John Vize and Detective John Dee - who was then President of the Greenburg Police Association. Over burnt toast and muddy coffee, we discussed establishing an organization of police unions in Westchester County to promote social and professional interaction among those in law enforcement. Later that year, the Affiliated Police Associations of Westchester County was born. Over the years, I have observed all too often the endless sea of police officers “in blue” standing erect, shoulder to shoulder, assembled in somber silence to offer their condolences anytime one of their own is stricken by life’s greatest tragedy. The spectacular display of moral support exhibited in the aftermath of such human tragedy has always struck me as an example of the extent to which the common purpose of law enforcement can propel police officers to identify with each other. We now find ourselves in this Country on the precipice of a great economic decline, which will squeeze municipal budgets here in Westchester County and harden the bargaining position of those with whom the unit members of this organization must negotiate contracts. Today’s economic climate illustrates more than ever the importance of the need for the brotherhood discussed at that greasy-spoon diner almost 20 years ago when the APA was conceived, and exhibited so many times since then. The negotiation of any given police contract within the borders of Westchester County - from salary and longevity increases to health insurance - is driven by the contractual benefits obtained by your counterparts in other comparable communities. The contract negotiated, for example, by the Greenburgh Police Association sets the table for collective negotiations in other municipalities such as the Towns of Eastchester, Bedford and Mamaroneck. In fashioning a compulsory interest arbitration award, a neutral arbitrator also looks at the contracts negotiated by police unions in comparable neighboring communities in Westchester County. As a result, the APA functions most effectively when used by all of its member units as a vehicle for the exchange of information. Before negotiating any collective bargaining agreement there should be a shared exchange of what ought to the “going rate,” a discussion of the progress being made by those member units engaged in negotiations and a prompt posting of any settlement or arbitration award on the APA’s newly established website. The APA must also exercise its considerable political weight by “rating” arbitrators who issue any police award involving one of the member units. Any arbitrator who does not do the “right thing” by one of the member units of the APA needs to know that he/she is not likely to be selected as a mediator/arbitrator in the future by any other member unit of the APA. Other arbitrators will likewise be influenced in those marginable cases which can “go either way,” by the knowledge that, they too, may not work in the Westchester County law enforcement community. With unity, the benefits reaped by any individual member unit will bear additional fruit on the tree harvested by all of the other member units. Now that Fall has arrived, welcome to the new political orchard. Tom Troetti |