Outraged Essex County Cops Demand Raises, Flood Board Meeting

This article was updated at 4:15 p.m. on Nov. 2

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A large crowd of angry police officers, corrections officers and other law enforcement workers employed by Essex County showed up at Wednesday’s commissioner meeting to demand raises and better staffing ratios.

Often sparsely attended, the standing-room-only meeting of the Essex County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 1 was packed to the brim with police officers and their supporters. Watch the video online here or view it below.

According to a joint statement from several labor unions, more than 1,000 law enforcement workers in Essex County haven’t seen a raise in nearly seven years. Although county administrators have met with the unions in the recent past, the talks have hit a brick wall.

Meanwhile, a chronic lack of staff and rising violence at the county-run Essex County Correctional Facility continues to jeopardize their safety at work, union leaders have claimed. Read More: Stabbing, Beating At Essex County Jail Is Only Tip Of Iceberg, Union Says

Those joining the latest call to action include:

• FOP106 - Represents the supervisors with the Essex County Department of Corrections
• PBA183 - Represents Essex County Sheriff's officers and investigators
• PBA183A - Represents Essex County Sheriff's sworn supervisors
• PBA382 - Represents Essex County corrections officers

A collective bargaining unit representing Essex County Prosecutor's Office detectives has also joined the campaign, union leaders said.

Prior to Wednesday’s meeting, James Troisi, vice-president of FOP106, shared a statement with Patch that outlined some of the officers’ complaints:

“Approximately two-thirds of all criminal matters in New Jersey are processed through Essex County courts and its correctional facility. Yet these law enforcement groups are among the lowest paid in the state. The unions have asked for raises that would bring them in line with the state's median payscale for their respective job titles. County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. and his elected and appointed political compatriots have tied the matter up in court since late 2016. The county has lost the legal battle at every stage of the litigation, yet continues to spend millions of taxpayer dollars appealing.”

According to Troisi, county administrators have now re-appealed to the Appellate Division, which could give the case a shot at advancing to the New Jersey Supreme Court.

“Enough is enough,” he wrote. “The county executive needs to allow the county's legal counsel the authority to negotiate in good faith and put this to bed so that these brave men and women can focus their attention back on the safety of our friends, family and neighbors living and working within Essex County.”

“While the county will argue that this is four unions out of 26 the county has to negotiate with, these four represent approximately one-third of the entire county workforce,” Troisi added. “It is also only these four unions that have been out of contract for six years.”

“We’re not the problem,” Troisi told the commissioner board on Wednesday, earning a round of applause from the crowd.

“One-third of your workforce entered these hallways tonight,” he urged. “Pay attention.”

Many of his law enforcement peers agreed during the public comment portion of the meeting.

“All we’re asking is for elected officials to stand behind us and give us a fair, moderate contract,” commented Ed Esposito of PBA183.

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Essex County Commissioner President Wayne Richardson spoke to the officers’ concerns at the beginning of Wednesday’s meeting.

Richardson said the board is “unequivocally supporting a fair and competitive contract” for all officers, with pay that is in line with other county averages. He added that the board has also been in contact with county administrators about the issue.

“We have expressed in no uncertain terms the need for a new contract,” Richardson said.

“Too many offices are having to take on extra hours and lose time with their families, either to fill schedule gaps caused by understaffing or just to make ends meet,” the board president added. “This is unacceptable and must be fixed.”

A statement from county administrators was also read at the meeting.

According to the statement, there are 22 other bargaining units – representing the majority of county employees – who accepted the county’s wage increases in 2017.

“Rest assured the administration is engaging in contract negotiations in good faith with these law enforcement units, and that the administration has had correspondence with these units, as well as numerous county internal meetings,” the statement continued.

The county is prepared to offer the same salary increases that have been paid to the other 22 bargaining units for the past six years, administrators said.

The statement added:

“County administration believes that there is a current impasse and has filed for interest arbitration, starting with FOP 106 Corrections, in order to have an impartial arbitrator (not county administration, commissioners or union officials) decide contractual raises for the last six years within a short time. The county’s willingness to move negotiations forward through this process shows the county is serious about, and committed to, resolving past years to get the raises for union members and to stop personal attacks so that we may move forward together."

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