Las Vegas police union will not go on strike, president says

The Las Vegas Police Protective Association is instructing members to show up to work Friday, roughly two weeks after it had asked Metropolitan Police Department employees to consider a work stoppage and advocate for higher wages in the face of a mandated increase to their retirement contributions taking effect this month.

Union president Steve Grammas told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in a text message Thursday that the poll sent to members June 19 generated a good response by members, but several supervisors threatened rank-and-file officers during polling with discipline — including possible termination — for any participation in a work stoppage.

Grammas declined to share the results of the poll, which closed on Friday, but said the union has entered into expanded talks with the department concerning pay increases.

“Due to the fear of retaliation, rather than support for the officers by their immediate leadership, we made the decision to ask our members to continue to work and allow the PPA, through newly expanded contract negotiations, to fight and get the pay cut fixed so officers do not lose a single penny of pay,” Grammas said.

Officials at Metro and Clark County could not immediately be reached for comment Friday. At a press conference Tuesday, Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley noted that the current collective bargaining agreement between Metro and the union ends June 30, 2026, and said that under the current labor agreement, the union agreed to split PERS increases equally.

“If it was up to me, of course we’d be absorbing the difference,” Berkley said. “But the reality is that our PERS contribution went up $9 million. The city doesn’t have $9 million. We have to make sure everybody is part of the PERS program for their retirement, and we cannot carve out the police to eliminate that part of the contract. … Right now, they’re in the middle of a contract that they knew about and signed. Every other employee in the city is part of PERS, and we’re all paying our fair share. Don’t love it, but that’s what we’re doing.”

Retirement contributions going up

The email containing the poll sent to members asked them to consider four options, three of which were maneuvers that could have been deemed an illegal strike under state law, which prohibits public employees like police officers from engaging in work stoppages.

Those options, according to a screenshot obtained by the Review-Journal, were:

— “Commence a strike to start on the 4th of July.”

— “Exercise your contractual benefit to utilize sick leave starting on the 4th of July.”

— “Report for duty and refuse to leave the briefing room starting on the 4th of July.”

— “Do nothing. Report for duty as normal and take the reduction in pay without a fight.”

Last November, the Public Employees Retirement System moved forward with plans to increase the total employee and employer contribution rate for Nevada police and fire employees to 58.75 percent of gross pay, up from 50 percent. Civilian employees will see a 3.25 percent contribution increase to 36.75 percent.

Nevada law requires any change in the contribution rate to be shared equally between the employee and employer.

That would mean Metro employees and the department would each contribute 29.375 percent once the new rate takes effect July 18. When combined with a 2.6 percent cost-of-living increase also taking effect, Grammas said Metro employees under the new PERS rate increase would see a 2 percent net decrease of their take-home pay.

Nevada law deems that the services provided by state and local governments, including policing, are essential, and that strikes against government employers are illegal.

Under state law, courts may issue an injunction to prevent a public sector strike from occurring. Strikes that take place in defiance of a court order can subject the union that organized the stoppage to a $50,000 fine, and union leaders can face imprisonment or be fined up to $1,000 per day of continued violation. Employees who participate in an illegal strike also may face penalties, including dismissal and suspension.

Contact Casey Harrison at charrison@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Casey_Harrison1 on X or @casey-harrison.bsky.social on Bluesky.