PBA Officers Agree With Union Leaders, County Commission in Voting

Miami-Dade police and corrections officers overwhelmingly agreed with their union’s leaders on the county healthcare battle Thursday, supporting the county commission’s recent vote on the issue with one of their own.

Ninety-four percent of officers and 97 percent of supervisors who voted approved the commission’s decision not to require the Dade County Police Benevolent Association’s members to contribute an additional 5 percent towards their healthcare.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez sought the concessions to address a $35 million “budget gap.” After he vetoed the commission’s vote, 118 police officers were laid off and 41 demoted, and 17 corrections officers were laid off.

In a statement Thursday night, the PBA emphasized that the additional contribution would have come “on top of millions of dollars in concessions that officers already gave up when they ratified contracts back in December,” and said the officers’ medical premiums are already “inflated.”

“Our officers are united more than ever. They are tired of being treated as pawns in this political game,” PBA President John Rivera said. “They have said enough is enough.”

The union filed numerous legal challenges to the layoffs Wednesday.

In a new memo Wednesday, Gimenez gave estimates for how PBA members’ pay would be affected, if his desired additional 5 percent healthcare contribution is implemented in addition to other concessions in the PBA’s new contract.

He said that officers would see anywhere from a 1.5 percent reduction in pay (for an entry officer) to a 7.3 percent increase in pay (for a senior officer). If the additional healthcare contribution does not take effect, then officers’ pay would increase between 2.9 percent and 12.5 percent, he said.

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