Stavros publicly committed to working with City Hall several months ago during initial budget discussions, but city officials said the union had already pledged to help months before that.
The City Council on Tuesday is expected to ratify the change, which would eliminate rank-and-file cost-of-living increases of between 2.5% and 4.5% through fiscal year 2010-11, officials said.
Against the backdrop of an April 7 City Council election in which three incumbents face reelection in a campaign dominated by the economy, the association’s preemptive move to save the city up to $3 million over the next two years could increase pressure on other city employee unions to follow suit.
“I would assume that we will be hearing from [the Glendale Police Officers Assn.] soon,” Mayor John Drayman said. “Like their fellow public safety employees, the Glendale Firefighters Assn., they certainly understand that their assistance in bringing a city budget in line is essential.”
Glendale police are the only other block of city employees who are due a raise July 1.
City executives have already begun talks with the Glendale Police Officers Assn. on possible amendments to its contract, which calls for a 6% pay raise for sworn officers.
Glendale police Officer Larry Ballesteros, who serves as president of the association, said Thursday that union representatives were willing to meet with city executives and “see what’s on the table.”
“It’s only fair,” he said.
At a time when Glendale has among the lowest officer-to-resident ratios in the tri-city area, and as Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa forges ahead with a plan to grow police ranks there by 1,000 officers, officials have said that cutting salaries locally could provoke some to jump ship to higher-paying agencies.
