Officials laud cooperative effort resulting in six-month salary freeze
by James McEvoy, Managing Editor
HAMILTON — Hamilton Township and the Hamilton Police Benevolent Association have reached an agreement on a new 3½-year contract.
The contract, which includes a six-month salary freeze, will include average annual salary increases of 2.2 percent over the course of the contract.
According to a township release, taxpayers will see an estimated $1.4 million savings over the course of the new pact through lower starting salaries, an increase in the amount of years required for officers to reach top pay and concessions in employee health benefits.
”Not only am I very proud of the outstanding work of our Hamilton Township police officers to protect and serve our community,” Mayor Kelly A. Yaede said. “I also am very proud of their concern for our taxpayers, embodied by their recognition of the constraints our local government faces with the 2 percent cap law and by their commitment to bargaining in good faith to help achieve significant savings for our taxpayers.”
In a statement, Steven Gould, president of the township PBA, which represents uniformed officers and detectives, but not superior officers, noted the working relationship between the association and administration.
”We are lucky to have the excellent working relationship that we have with the township administration, and we feel that, with the difficult economic times that we are in, this contract and the concessions that we have made are more than fair to both us and the taxpayers of Hamilton,” Mr. Gould said.
”When reasonable people sit down together in a room and have an open honest discussion, contract negotiations do not have to be a long difficult process. As times change, the attitudes of both unions and management must change as well because no one wins when negotiations become negative and hostile,” he added.
The Police Department consists of 161 officers.
The Superior Officers Association’s latest contract with the township expired at the end of last month.