City Council - Regular Meeting

Now it's coming on my computer. Just just give me one second. I'm gonna hang up here on my phone if you can promote me. Everyone, good morning. For the record, my name is Ben Weber.

I'm the chair of the Ways and Means Committee and the District six city councilor. Okay. Today is 05/13/2026, and the exact time is 09:37AM. In accordance with chapter two of the acts of 2025 modifying certain requirements of the open meeting law and relieving public bodies of certain requirements, including the requirement that they conduct their meetings in a public place that are open and physically accessible to the public. The city council will be conducting this hearing virtually via Zoom.

This hearing is being recorded. It's also being livestreamed at boston.gov/city-counciltv and broadcast on Xfinity channel eight, RCM channel 82, and Fios channel nine sixty four. Written comments may be sent to the committee at ccc. Wmboston dot gov and will be made part of the record and available to all counselors. Public testimony will be taken at the end of the hearing.

Individuals will be called on the order which they've signed up and have two minutes to testify. If you wish to sign up for public testimony, please email our central staff liaison, Karishma, John at karishma.chouhan@boston.gov for the Zoom link, and your name will be added to the list. This morning's hearing is on four dockets related to collective bargaining between the city and Boston police detectives, benevolent society, and superior officers. I will now read the four dockets into the record. Just checking. I people can still hear me. Nod your head. Okay. Great. Okay.

So docket number 0909, message in order for your approval in order to reduce the FY '26 appropriation for the reserve for collective bargaining by 1,951,894, to provide funding for the Boston Police Department for the FY '26 increases contained within the collective bargaining agreements between the city of Boston and the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society, or BPD b BS, which if I refer to that as the detectives Okay. Target number 0910, message in order for a supplemental appropriation order for the Boston Police Department for FY '26 in the amount of $1,951,894 to cover the FY '26 cost items contained within the collective bargaining agreement between the City of Boston and the BPDBS. The terms of the contract are 07/01/2025 through 06/30/2026. The major provisions of the contract include a base wage increase of 2% in July 2025. Contract also contains an update to hazardous duty pay and amended language around sick time buyback and retirement.

Docket number nine eleven, message in order for your approval, in order to reduce the FY 'twenty six appropriation for the reserve for collective bargaining by $1,000,366.90, $93 to provide funding for the Boston Police Department for the FY '26 increases contained within the collective bargaining agreements between the city of Boston and the, b Boston Police Detective Benevolent Society Superior Officers Unit. Docket number 0912, message in order for a supplemental appropriation order for the Boston Police Department for FY '26 in the amount of $1,306,093 to cover the FY 'twenty six cost items contained within the collective bargaining agreements between the City of Boston and the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society Superior's Officers Unit. The terms of the contract are 07/01/2025, through 06/30/2026. The major provisions of the contract include a base wage increase of 2% in July 2025. The contract also contains an update to hazardous duty pay and amended language around pay details and summer vacation schedules.

These matters were sponsored by mayor Michelle Wu and referred to the committee on 05/06/2026. I'm joined by my colleagues in order of arrival, Councilor Ed Flynn, Councilor Erin Murphy, Councilor John Fitzgerald. We're also joined by our panelists. We have Budget Director, Jim Williamson, Director of Labor Relations for the City of Boston, Renee Buschie Labor Counsel for the Boston Police Department, John Wilton and Deputy Superintendent of the Boston Police Department for the office of labor relations, James Miller. Let's see here. So let's, I don't know. Do you have a presentation? Let's just get to it, and then we'll get to questions.

No, counsel. I I usually just introduced what the transaction that we have before us. So thank you, Jim Weber, and other members of the council. As you said, my name is Jim Williamson. I'm the budget director here at

the City of Boston. I'm joined by my colleagues from the labor relations department and the police department to to, speak for these, four appropriation orders that are

before you. We appreciate this opportunity to both explain the financial transactions they represent and the impact to the labor force and ask for your support in approving these dockets at your next council meeting. So I think you articulated the dockets. There's one dock two sets of dockets moving $1,900,000 from the collective bargaining reserve into the police department budget for the the police detectives union. And then an additional two dockets are moving approximately $1,400,000 again from the collective bargaining reserve for the police detective superiors into the police department budget.

So the total of these four dockets is $3,300,000 Just to go over what's happened during the course of this fiscal year, the FY 2026 budget finalized in June 2025 included a $102,700,000 collective bargaining reserve. There's been 11 CDAs approved by the city council to date, totaling $86,300,000 And this with these supplementals of $3,300,000 there'll be a total dollars appropriate of $89,600,000 With that, I don't know if anybody else on the Citi team has any other statements they'd like to make for questions.

I'll just add. Good morning, counselors. Thank you. These are two one year agreements for the detectives and the detective superior units. They largely mirror they'll be up next month, June 30.

They largely mirror what has already been approved for the BPPA with the 2% and the 1% in hazardous duty, some of the changes in the detail rates, the workout time, the gyms, and the name tags. So those it's largely a one year sort of catch up contract mirroring what the BPPA has already received. We were happy to be able to do some of these things with the workout time and gyms for the officers involved, and we ask your approval for these contracts.

Okay. Thank you very much. Yeah. I mean, the, this was filed last week and, hoping to have a hearing and bring up for a vote today. So, I'm gonna leave it to my colleagues here. Councilor Flynn, you're up first. Do six minutes, and you'll all come on camera with a minute to go.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I heard briefly about the name tag being mentioned. Can you just explain that to me, please?

John, you wanna take that?

Sure. So superior officers, uniformed superior officers have for about ten or so years had name tags. Most recently in the last one year contract, the patrol officers, the city negotiated a bargaining waiver for name tags. Now we are negotiating a bargaining waiver for detectives and detective superiors to wear name tags while in uniform.

And or John, I would like to add to that that adds another level of transparency and it simply puts a name with a face. That was kind of the goal of it.

Thank you, John. Thank you, James. Can you just give me the percentages again? It's 21%. But can you just explain that again to me in a little bit more detail?

I mean, the 2% is just the compensation raise, and then there's 1% added on for the same year to their hazardous duty rate.

And I'm familiar with the hazardous duty rate. I'm familiar with the term hazardous duty. But can you just explain that to the public, please?

It's another stipend. I think that's been in the contracts for some period of time recognizing some of the conditions that officers face in their work. So it's an additional component of pay that are in both of these contracts in recognition historically of some of the difficult conditions that the officers and the detectives face in their work.

Thank you. I support that. Appropriate. I I don't have any further questions. I I will vote for this contract. Also want to recognize Jim Williams Williamson that does does a very good job as well. Mister Chair, I don't have any further questions.

Okay. Thank you very much. Councillor Murphy?

Good morning, everyone.

I'll just turn my camera on when your time is up. Okay.

Thank you all for hopping on before our noon meeting so we can vote today in support. Just looking forward to voting in support. Councillor Flynn asked a couple of the questions. Seeing that you mentioned, Renee, that it was very similar to the one with the BPPA. The only question may be to Jamie or John, is there anything that these unions felt, these members felt was left out or something more that you had wanted?

Well, councillor, both both sides, I think always leave a little bit of, pieces on the table when coming to an agreement, but, I think both sides are also very happy, with where things ended up. There are a couple of additional terms here in addition to the BPPA's contract. We have and in particular, I think the biggest one that we're happy to be able to give these two bargaining units are the ability to use half days, comp days when it does not create replacement over time or operational concern. So we're hoping that that will be another element of health and wellness and to be able to give these bargaining unit members, detectives and detective superiors, a little bit of more family time back and the ability to take a little bit of time off.

If I remember correctly, with the BPPA, it was brought up about the limit of sick or personal days that could be carried over. Was it, like, capped at a 100? Has that been lifted, or has that changed?

So, counselor, I think in the last, contract with BPPA, we raised the limit of sick days that they could, redeem at retirement, from 200 to 250.

Okay.

And we are doing the same here for the detectives. The detective superiors already have their limit at 260, I believe.

And it will stay?

Yeah. So the detective's limit will will go up to 250, with this new contract.

Okay. That's good to hear. Thank you. Just wanna also thank Bobby and Jeannie and the unions for and their leadership team for supporting and advocating our police detectives and superior officers. And just thank you. Looking forward to voting in support of it.

Okay. Thank you. Councilor Fitzgerald?

Thank you, chair, and, thank you to everybody, on the Zoom today, regarding this contract. All the questions were asked by my colleagues that I that really concerned me. So, I just wanna say that, here in support, thank you guys for doing good work and a good back and forth to get to this point today and to keep, to keep folks squarely paved away, in in a on a fair way. So, don't wanna take up any more time. I know we all got busy days. So thank you very much.

Okay. Thank you. So just a couple of questions from the chair. You just explain the timing of this? Like so this is payback to last July, sort of this this amount just fills in benefits? And when were they negotiated at you know? And it's, I guess, like, why why is this coming for us now as opposed to months ago?

So, I mean, we did, start negotiating this, fairly quickly after the BPPA agreement was, signed. It just, you know, the back and forth and schedules, I think, took a little bit of time. So most of these increases will be retroactive to, 07/01/2025, and then the increases will start going forward. You know, it's going forward as well. So it would love to be retroactive. I don't think either party was delaying. It just was sort of the nature of the nature of negotiations that it took a little time to get finalized.

Yeah. So so when was this agreement reached?

Let's see. Hold on. The date was, the detectives was 04/08/2026, and the detective superiors, 04/13/2026.

Okay. Okay. Just a couple other questions. So the summer, I guess, there's vacation time available now during the summer vacation period. Can you just explain what the conditions what that's addressing? And

Yep. So we have a, summer vacation period built into the contract. It used to be, Debbie, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's sixteen weeks during the summer or eight vacation periods. The idea is, to expand the number of vacation periods for the officers to bid on, which spreads out the number of officers off at any given time. Admittedly, it's going to have it it should have a larger effect on the patrol force than the detectives and detective superiors, but the idea is to reduce the amount of officers off at any given time during the summer, which in turn reduces the amount of replacement over time.

The similar to the firefighters' contract, I think. Wasn't there like, a or there's some, trying to extend the periods where people could take vacations, I thought. Anyway, it rang a bell.

Slightly different than the fire contract.

Yeah. It wasn't summer, but it was maybe school vacation periods or something. Anyway okay. And then just, lastly, in terms of, police overtime, you know, that's been an issue, the amount being spent. I mean, how will this contract impact will it have an impact on police over time? Will it lower it? Will it increase it?

I mean, that well, you go ahead. Go ahead, John.

Yeah. I mean, we're hopeful that the summer vacation period will, have a have a, an effect that would reduce the amount of overtime hours worked. Although, as I mentioned, it will probably have a greater effect for the patrol force than the detectives and detective superiors just because there's, much fewer detectives and detective superiors. So that's that's the primary method through this one that we're trying to reduce overtime through the contract. I will say that police department is also taking a number of management steps to, reduce overtime throughout

the department. Department. I'm sorry. Just John, can you just explain? So the because when you're taking overtime, it's not replacement time for someone else or can you just explain how it reduces overtime pay?

Sure. Well, For overtime hours. Yeah. Yes. It if the number of officers or detectives off at any given week during the summer is less than the number of times that you have to replace that detective or patrol officer on overtime during the summer is less. Replacement overtime during the summer, I think, is one of our largest, driving factors of overtime.

Okay. And then anything in the contract that's going to increase the number of overtime hours that you want to shadow or highlight or anything?

I think we were careful to be considerate considerate of that. We talked about the workout time, but we made it very clear that that wasn't allowed to increase overtime. So we were very concerned about not increasing the overtime budget in the provisions that we were able to offer the officers.

Okay. Thank you. That's it for me. I see Councilor Flynn's hand is up. Councilor Flynn?

Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chair. My question, just wanted to follow-up. We're short staffed with detectives. Is is that accurate to say?

Yes. I I would yes.

How how how many detectives are we short staffed?

I I think we're below our allocation by around is it 45 or 50 deputy? I I would think it's about 45 right now, John. I think those are some recently appointed detectives.

That's a that's a concern I have. So let me ask, we talk about work life balance and and supporting our police families. If a detective needs to spend some time with his family, has has an opportunity to take a vacation, take a day off, and we're already short staffed with with with detectives, how how are we balancing supporting that detective and their family, but also balancing public safety and and manning levels?

I I think, counsel, that, we've taken some deliberate actions to stem the overtime a bit. But also, I think the w four hour WO provision is going to hopefully alleviate some of the overtime and also add some family time to the detectives. I think they're gonna maybe not call in sick as much or take full vacation time. If they can take a four hour earned time on a Saturday to catch a cookout or a baseball game or whatever for the children instead of taking a full time that would that would require us to backfill for them.

When when we're short staffed significantly with detectives and then we're asking a detective that's working the regular shift to to stay on, to work the the the the second shift, that's overtime. That's that's not necessarily what the detective wants. That's what the the Boston Police Department needs. But on the other hand, my colleagues on the city council are calling calling out the, almost the detectives or the were for for making this this money, and and it's not their fault. And they're placed in a situation where they're almost forced to work a double shift and, you know, giving up precious time with their family.

And then and then we're criticizing them and and and and and calling out calling out overtime. The the issue is why aren't we promoting and getting people into the new detective roles, promoting detectives? And then and then that reduces the amount of overtime that is needed. I I think we're we're we're criticizing, we're criticizing the system, and we're not doing what we need to do in terms of promoting two detective in in hiring more police officers, which I have cons consistently advocated for since I got on. I think we need to hire 300 police officers every year consistently for the next ten years.

Does that make any sense to to to you guys, John or James, what what I mentioned?

Could I just point out

No. I don't no. Renee, it's it's it's more of a police issue. I I do want

to Well, this this is a police issue, and I'll let them follow-up on it.

No. No. But but Renee Renee, is it is Renee, is it okay if I ask the Boston police, to respond? I think I think it was a fair question.

I mean, I think this is a labor contract, and I just would like to

No. I I understand that. On it. I don't do overtime. No. I understand, Renee.

Overtime that's not

mandatory. I understand, Renee, that I

it's it's it's about staffing levels in the Boston police. I do I do wanna give them an an opportunity to respond.

I would give them an opportunity. Yeah.

I know. Just making

that point. There's a difference.

No. No. I I do I understand. But I

Mister Flynn, if a panelist is answering your question, please

No, mister chair. I I I did ask a specific question. It was respectful question. Yeah. I wanted to give the panel an opportunity to

Go ahead. I'm sure John

respond. Is is is that okay, mister chair? I I

agree your question is respectful. You have to be respectful of the panel. This is

not I I deposition. Chair, I I specifically specifically asked asked a question for James and John if they if they would want to respond based on their experience, working in the Boston police knowing the staff and levels. It's about staffing.

Yeah. I I believe Renee has valid also knowledge about that stuff in the Boston Police Department. That's

a But but mister chair, my handles you keep

My Fine. I'll withdraw my comment. John can come

Mister chair, my question my question was specifically to the Boston Police, Mr. Chair. I think you're missing my point.

We could move on.

Okay. Any other panelists want to respond?

I think I can respond to that, counselor. Anytime we make detectives or promote sergeants or lieutenant or someone, we're we're taking away from the patrol force. So we have to keep that balance in mind and, you know, recruit our efforts to get more police officers into the Boston Police Department are ongoing, and we we continue to make to strive to get more police officers.

Thank you.

Okay. Okay. Is that is thank you, councilor Flynn. Okay. Renee, do you have anything you wanted to add on that? Just

I'm not

seeing anything.

Okay. Great. Okay. Well, I don't think we have any other questions from my colleagues. I wanna thank everyone who was here this morning, and I wanna thank, you know, thank central staff for being willing to have this hearing on short notice on a on an otherwise busy Wednesday so we could get this up for a vote as, you know, in a prompt manner, and that that was that required us having this hearing on Wednesday morning. So, again, thank you to Central for doing that. Thank you, again, to my colleagues for being here, thank you to the panelists. This morning's hearing is now adjourned. Thank you, Miguel. Thank you. Thank you.