A state arbitration agency this week notified New Canaan officials that it found in favor of the town in a case that revolved around $47.60 total that two police officers had been seeking in mileage reimbursement.
According to findings received Monday from the Connecticut State Board of Mediation and Arbitration, a police sergeant and lieutenant in February 2014 filed a grievance after their superior said they wouldn’t be reimbursed $42 and $5.60, respectively, for traveling to police headquarters on a day off for a strategic planning meeting.
Though compensated at time-and-a-half for four hours, the two policemen cited a clause in New Canaan Police Union Local 1575’s collective bargaining agreement which reads: “In the event an employee is required by the Police Department to use the employee’s family or personal automobile, the Town shall reimburse the employee for such use at the rate of the current Federal Standard per mile.”
After their superior rejected the mileage reimbursement claims, the policemen filed a grievance with the town. That was denied, and the matter went to arbitration, according to a copy of the award from the state, dated Jan. 5.
The town’s position was that “there is no contract language requiring the reimbursement for mileage for attending a staff meeting, and the Department has a bona fide past practice of not reimbursing officers for mileage when traveling to the Police Station for a staff meeting.”
The arbitrators found that the language in the union contract “does not specifically state the type of uses which will be mileage reimbursed by the Town” and that the town had never paid for officers’ mileage under the same circumstances in the past.
The matter of police grievances arose during a Jan. 22 budget presentation by the New Canaan Police command staff to the Board of Selectmen.
During the presentation, held in a Town Hall board room, First Selectman Rob Mallozzi noted that the police department’s costs associated with grievances—$109,000 over three years—compared unfavorably with other town agencies (DPW: $342, Fire: zero).
“So we have a culture in that group, unfortunately—and I don’t know if it’s disrespect for the opportunity that we are giving them to make $260,000 on side jobs or not—but the fact is that it is pretty one-sided in that department, and it may not be just your department, it may be [the same in] Darien or Wilton. But [it’s] discouraging from a Board of Selectmen level or a taxpayer level that we’ve got an opportunity for these folks to come into our town, work a good job and have an opportunity to make that kind of income, above and beyond, and yet the costs associated with grievances to date are so far above what other unions are taking the town for, and even workman’s comp which has certainly gone down but still dwarfs everyone else’s department. It’s almost like—and I’m sure you guys have the same frustration—it’s like, What else can we be doing to provide the work environment and the opportunity that doesn’t have this be the reflection of what we are trying to achieve. It is disappointing, at a minimum, and that’s what we’ve got to get to the bottom of.”
Police Chief Leon Krolikowski noted by way of responding that, historically, police have seen 10 or 12 grievances filed each year, and that last year the department only saw one, later withdrawn.
“It may be an anomaly, but it’s a good sign,” the police chief said.
Mallozzi agreed: “It’s a very good sign.”