Las Vegas, corrections workers reach deal to reduce pay, benefits

Las Vegas officials have reached a labor deal with employees in the city's corrections department, the last of the city's four bargaining units to agree to reductions in pay and benefits.

But the reductions probably will not be enough to fill the budget gap city officials are expecting in the next fiscal year.

The agreement is scheduled to be on the City Council's agenda next Wednesday. Members of the Las Vegas Peace Officers Association ratified the deal 121-24 on Monday.

"We realize this has been a long ordeal for all city employees, as well as the city leadership," association President Tracey Valenzuela said in a statement. "I think there has been this perception that the POA members were unwilling to assist in the city obtaining a sustainable future through concessions, but we have always felt that we were stakeholders and needed to make a sacrifice for the common good."

The deal would suspend all raises for two years and eliminate uniform allowances starting in June. The officers would see their pay cut by 1.5 percent in June 2011 and by an additional 1.5 percent in June 2012.

Employees hired after June 2011 would receive lower entry-level pay and step increases and would pay half of their contribution to the Public Employees Retirement System. Currently, the city covers all of that contribution.

The concessions would save an estimated $3.6 million over the next two years, city officials said.

If approved by the council, the agreement would end roughly a year of sometimes tempestuous talks between city officials and union leaders. The city started out by asking that workers give up all raises and accept 8 percent salary cuts in the current budget year and the next one.

None of the bargaining units went that far, but employees did give up scheduled raises and agreed to combinations of pay reductions and benefit cuts.

The city has laid off roughly 200 workers since the recession began.

The agreements with the Police Officers Association, the Las Vegas City Employees Association, the Las Vegas Police Protective Association and the International Association of Firefighters Local 1285 are expected to save $18 million a year in each of the next two fiscal years.

That will not be enough to make up a projected budget shortfall of $47 million in the 2011 fiscal year, which raises the possibility of more talks for more union concessions or additional layoffs.

Salary studies commissioned by the city as part of negotiations found that many city salaries were higher than market averages for similar positions.

A corrections sergeant in Las Vegas had an annual salary of $93,143, which was 21 percent higher than the market average. A city corrections officer's salary of $67,680 was 78 percent higher than the market average, according to the city's study.

The unions did not put much weight on the studies, saying the city cherry-picked data to reach a preordained conclusion.

"Every organization requires different things when it comes to tasks and risk factor," Valenzuela said in an e-mail. "These are the only two factors that should be considered when discussing compensation packages ... what fits one organization may not be appropriate for another."

City officials stood by the studies, noting that most of the comparisons were to positions in California, Arizona and Utah and to other governments in Southern Nevada.

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.