Bruce Blakeman, Nassau PBA reach tentative 8 1/2-year pact

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and leaders of the county Police Benevolent Association on Tuesday agreed to a proposed multiyear contract that would raise top base pay from $122,000 to $141,000, top county officials with knowledge of the agreement said.

Starting pay for new officers would increase from $35,000 to $37,333.

The tentative 8 1/2-year deal would run, retroactively, from Jan. 1, 2018 through July 1, 2026, the officials said. 

No other details were available late Tuesday, including the overall cost of the agreement to the county.

But officials said the proposed contract follows a template similar to those of previous contracts with Nassau municipal unions. 

The agreement, contained in a memorandum of understanding between the administration and the PBA, needs ratification by the 1,800-member union. 

The agreement then would go to the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a state board that controls county finances, and the Nassau County Legislature for approval.

"After exhaustive negotiations between my negotiating team and the PBA, I am happy to execute this Memorandum of Agreement on behalf of the county with PBA President Thomas Shevlin," Blakeman said in a statement Tuesday shortly after the signing.

"I believe this agreement keeps our police department at the highest levels of salary in the nation but at the same time has provisions that enhance the safety of our communities and guards the taxpayers money," Blakeman said.

Shevlin in a statement thanked, "Blakeman and his team for acknowledging the hard work, dedication, and professionalism displayed by Nassau County Police Officers."

The proposed pact with the PBA is the second law enforcement contract negotiated by the Blakeman administration.

In August, Blakeman and the executive board of the county's Sheriff's Corrections Officers Benevolent Association struck a tentative five-year deal that union members ultimately voted down. 

Under the proposal, officers would have received raises of 2% in 2020 and 2021, 2.5% in 2022 and 2023 and 3% in 2024 and 2025, according to a copy of the proposal obtained by Newsday in September.

Blakeman administration officials said they were continuing efforts to negotiate a new agreement with the correction officers. 

The PBA, Nassau's largest law enforcement union, was unable to reach a contract agreement with former County Executive Laura Curran, a Democrat who lost reelection to Blakeman, a Republican, in November 2021.

In December 2020, PBA members rejected Curran's proposal to award raises totaling 25% over an 8 1/2 year period.

The pact also would have given officers $3,000 each year for wearing body cameras.

The failed deal came after some Democrats and progressive activists had urged county legislators to delay passage of police contracts until the county sent the state a proposal for sweeping police reforms.

During her administration, Curran settled collective bargaining agreements with the two unions representing the county's detectives and top-ranked police officials.

Shevlin became PBA president in January, replacing James McDermott, who retired. 

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.