With Negotiations Stalled, Police Union and University Disagree on Wage Increases

Eleven months after negotiations began and nine months after their contract expired, representatives from the Harvard University Police Association expressed continued frustration with the stalled progress in their conversations with the University.

Harvard’s previous contract with HUPA—which represents approximately 56 Harvard University Police Department patrolmen—expired Aug. 1 of last year, and negotiations have continued since June. The largest disagreement between both groups centers on the size of the proposed wage increases.

The two sides met on Monday afternoon and issued a joint statement affirming their strong relationship and commitment to continuing the negotiations.

“We are confident that we can work together to reach an agreement that both recognizes the economic pressures facing the University and provides fair compensation to the respected and highly trained men and women of the Harvard University Police Department,” the statement read.

Yet no progress was made on the details of the contract.

A Harvard official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the issue indicated that the union’s current proposal is a three-year package that would result in a more than 20 percent wage increase. While representatives from the union would not disclose their exact proposals, HUPA President George R. White claimed that the University has refused to move from its proposal of a zero percent wage increase in the first year of the contract, to be followed by a one percent raise in the second, third, and fourth years.

“We have made repeated and significant moves in our position,” said Alan J. McDonald, the union’s attorney and chief negotiator. “We’ve tried to be creative, and we’re not being met with what we consider in-kind responses by the University.”

A University spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement to The Crimson that wages for the patrolmen are already high.

“Wages for the patrol officers are on par or ahead of the wages paid to officers at peer institutions and the major metropolitan police departments in our area,” the spokesperson wrote.

The last contract between HUPA and the University went into effect in August 2008. It included a four percent wage increase for each of the four years of the contract.

HUPA Vice President Michael Allen said that the University wanted to bring in a federal mediator to help resolve the negotiations, but that the mediator is unavailable until the end of May. He added that HUPA would prefer to bring in one of the mediators that worked on the resolved negotiations between the University and the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers earlier this year.

“They’re already up to speed on all the economic issues at hand,” White said. “Why not tap into all that knowledge?”

—Staff writer Christine Y. Cahill can be reached at christinecahill@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @cycahill16.