Letter from President Edward R. Brannigan

Pending Legislative Action Alert on Sick Leave Pay
January 2, 2012

Brothers & Sisters:

The governor and his supporters are again attacking our rights to collectively bargain. As you know, our members have negotiated their benefits into their contracts for decades. One of those benefits was the ability to sell back accrued sick time at retirement. This benefit was earned at the expense of other monetary compensation that was most often agreed to at the bargaining table and not mandated by arbitration.

The governor refused to accept a negotiated piece of legislation that passed in both houses of the legislature, with bipartisan support.

He vetoed the bill sending it back to its sponsor, state Senator Paul Sarlo with the conditions that the bill be rewritten to eliminate all compensation, now and in the future, for payments due at retirement. The governor was quoted recently saying "Zero means Zero", when asked about his position on Senate Bill S-2220.

The governor and his supporters are now exerting pressure on Senator Sarlo to knuckle under to the governor's demands. They would lead the public to believe that money paid to retiring officers was a public gift and not earned through years of dedicated public service and that it was negotiated fairly.

The Fraternal Order of Police is in continuing discussions with Senator Sarlo on this and other topics that affect law enforcement officers in New Jersey and will keep the membership apprised of upcoming events.

Please contact state Senator Sarlo's office at (201) 804-8118 and let him know that you oppose any further attacks on your collective bargaining rights.

Fraternally,
Edward R. Brannigan
President