The Police Benevolent Association thought it had won the battle when the Miami-Dade County Commissioners voted against requiring the union’s members to kick in an additional 5 percent for their healthcare in addition to the millions in concessions they have already made.
Not so fast.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez vetoed the commission’s vote Wednesday – and there was no sign of a resolution Thursday.
“Everybody has given already quite a bit of money. And that extra little bit could be enough to break a lot of households and hurt a lot of people,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Pepe Diaz, who was one of seven commissioners who voted against the 5 percent increase last week.
Six commissioners voted for the move, which would have required four county unions – two units of the Police Benevolent Association, and two of the Government Supervisors Association of Florida – to contribute 10 percent of their pay toward healthcare, up from the current 5 percent.
“It is my right as the mayor, given to me by the charter of the county, to veto any legislative action of the commission,” Gimenez said Thursday.
So he vetoed the decision, saying without the 5 percent contribution, nearly 300 cops and about 250 other county employees would have to be laid off to balance the budget.
“Each of these unions has their target, and if we don’t get the 5 percent additional imposed, we won’t reach that target,” Gimenez said. “We’re gonna have to lay off employees.”
PBA President John Rivera said he thinks Gimenez’s veto is illegal.
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“The county commission wasn’t acting as a commission, they were acting as impasse hearing officers, and that hearing has taken place, a final decision has been rendered, and for him to try and veto it is outside the boundary of what he can do,” he argued.
Rivera says the mayor’s math is fuzzy, saying that Gimenez threatened to fire 90 cops in December if the union did not make significant concessions to close a $74 million budget gap. So why, Rivera asks, would he have to lay off 300 cops now if the budget gap is only $18 million?
“He really wants to do this because he wants it, not because it has to be done,” Rivera said.
Said Gimenez: “If the commission does not vote to impose the 5 percent, if they vote to reject my veto on the 24th, then we have to be ready for that, and we are now proceeding with plans to issue layoff notices to a number of our employees.”
In anticipation of those layoffs, Gimenez says pink slips to police officers and other county employees will be sent out Friday.
But the story will likely keep going long beyond that.
