NIFA vote clears way for new police recruits
Even as Nassau County struggles with a budget deficit for the year going forward, the police department has pushed for the ability to hire more than 150 recruits. The Nassau Interim Finance Authority (NIFA) debated with union lawyers into the early morning on Saturday before finally lifting a three-year wage freeze on county employees represented by four different unions. NIFA voted 6 to 1 for the proposal which allowed the Acting Police Commissioner to induct the new recruits first thing Monday morning. The one dissenting vote belonged to board member, Chris Wright who believes that the county will be unable to meet the future costs of the contracts with the unions which raise wages by 13% by 2017 alone. Although an agreement has been reached, both the County and the unions are seeking a court decision as to whether the county had the right to freeze wages during a time when contracts dictated that raises and increases be made to wages.
See "NIFA vote clears way for new police recruits", Celeste Hadrick, Paul Larocco, & Joye Brown, Newsday, May 4, 2014