By Khalida Sarwari
The San Jose City Council this afternoon unanimously approved an agreement with the San Jose Police Officers’ Association on concessions that will save the jobs of 156 police officers.
A tentative agreement was reached on June 3, but was not ratified by the members of the association until this morning. Union members voted 674-429 in favor of ratifying the agreement.
Even with the concessions, the city is still expected to lay off around 100 police officers amid a $115 million budget deficit, David Low, a spokesman for Mayor Chuck Reed, said.
The terms of the proposal include a 10 percent reduction in salary and benefits for a savings of $12.9 million, but allow an arbitrator to decide whether the reduction will be ongoing or one-time. If the arbitrator decides the reduction should be ongoing, the contract terms will be for two years and if it is one-time, the terms will be for one year.
The terms also allow the city to outsource policing at the airport.
Negotiations on pension reform and sick leave payouts, however, are ongoing.