By Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Prince George's County Council members approved two-year contracts for police officers and firefighters yesterday but indicated that they want employees to sacrifice part of the pay raises in those deals to close a yawning budget shortfall.

The council voted unanimously to approve five contracts, together covering all county public safety workers except correctional officers and sheriff's deputies. However, County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) told union leaders last week that the county faces a $48 million budget shortfall for the fiscal year that began yesterday and that he would like to plug $13 million of that gap by trimming employee raises.

Dozens of firefighters and police officers attended yesterday's hearing, made more tense because it occurred against the backdrop of the line-of-duty slaying of police Cpl. Richard S. Findley last week. Afterward, members of the Fraternal Order of Police lodge handed out bright red fliers announcing an emergency meeting next week for members to discuss the contract.

Doug Bartholomew, president of the firefighters union, addressed a crowd of his members, many wearing uniforms or firehouse T-shirts, on the steps of the County Administration Building.

"We will be out fighting this day in and day out," he told them, accusing Johnson of trying to solve the budget crisis "on the backs of 6,000 county workers."

Council Chairman Samuel H. Dean (D-Mitchellville) said it was important for the council to approve the contracts so union members could receive retroactive pay raises included in the deals for the fiscal year that just ended. The contracts were negotiated in the fall and signed by the unions in the winter. They cover the fiscal year that just ended and the one that began yesterday.

Dean said unions will be asked to agree to adjustments to pay increases for the current year to avoid the possibility of layoffs or forced furloughs.

"We believe . . . it is better to have a smaller raise than to find yourself out of work," he said.

Dean said he began hearing about the scale of the budget gap from Johnson's staff last month. Given the declining economy, he said he was not surprised to hear that county revenue, particularly from taxes on income and home sales, had dropped.

"All you have to do is look at the news," he said. "This country is in a crisis. No one has been spared."

The police contract calls for a 3 percent cost-of-living increase and 3.5 percent merit raises this year. Contracts for firefighters and police civilian workers would provide for a 2.5 percent cost-of-living increase and 3.5 percent merit raises.

Union leaders said they will meet with members of Johnson's administration starting Monday to explore the next steps. They will also poll members about their willingness to renew negotiations about raises.

"There's a lot of uncertainty about what happens now," said Vince Canales, president of the FOP.

John Erzen, a spokesman for Johnson, said the county executive hopes that union leaders will agree to negotiate smaller raises.

"Our goal here is to work with all of the labor associations to find an agreement," Erzen said. "If they are not willing to sit down, the executive will have to confer with the County Council, and we may have to have more dramatic steps."

Public safety employees expressed anger that the county is talking about reduced raises when the budget was approved only at the end of May and county leaders celebrated a boost in the bond rating last month.

"I think this is something that was held in abeyance for a long time until they got that bond rating," Bartholomew said.

Dean, who briefed rating agencies with Johnson in May, said the New York bond raters were fully apprised that county revenue was falling.

"They felt we have been good stewards of the budget," he said. "The reason we got the bond rating was that we were forthright with the people on Wall Street."