By Nancy Peckenham
City of Newburgh police officers came close to approving a series of givebacks in their contract Wednesday night but stopped short when they learned the city didn’t guarantee that there would be no layoffs in the department next year.
The city’s 2012 budget calls for the layoff of seven police officers at the end of this year if negotiations with the Police Benevolent Association do not produce enough savings in the department.
Paul Weber, the attorney representing the PBA, said that the members overwhelmingly supported the givebacks that include holidays and other benefits, but that they couldn’t get behind a deal without a no-layoff guarantee for 2012.
“They could still lay us off and we would be stuck,” Weber said Thursday morning, noting that the officers want to know they can count on back up officers in the crime-ridden city.
Weber is optimistic that the city and the PBA can still reach an agreement before the end of the year. The two sides have a meeting scheduled Friday morning.
Acting City Manager Richard Herbek had no comment about the status of negotiations with the PBA.
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