Responding to protests by police officers over labor contracts and poor working conditions last week, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull said Friday that the men and women in blue will have to wait until teachers have their turn at the negotiating table.
Off-duty officers marched on St. Croix’s Government House Thursday because they are working without a current contract, St. Croix Police Benevolent Association president Naomi Joseoph said. She said the union’s last contract, negotiated by the Schneider administration, covered 1996-1999 and expired last September. But, Joseph said, the contract was never sent to the Legislature for funding.
A contract negotiated under the Farrelly administration that covered 1992-1995 is in the courts. In all, Joseph said, officers are owed more than $9 million in retroactive raises.
St. Thomas officers protested Friday, frustrated with what they see as the administration dragging its feet in coming to the negotiating table. That perception may not be too far off base. According to Ohanio Harris, Turnbull’s assistant on St. Croix and a retired police captain, the administration has more than 26 contracts to negotiate.
On Friday, Turnbull said that while he understands the plight of the officers, they are third on his list of priorities, teachers and health being Numbers 1 and 2.
"I’m mindful of all the others," Turnbull said. "You have to have priorities among priorities.
"With the fiscal conditions of the government, we’re going to have to pay attention to the children first," he said. "I cannot face the specter of having school open in August without teachers."
Harris said on Thursday that labor contracts negotiated by the Schneider administration never had the financial backing to fulfill the agreements. He said the Turnbull administration doesn’t want to get itself into the same situation and give unions "false hope."
Turnbull agreed, saying that what the administration will be offering at the table won’t be pie-in-the-sky numbers.
"It’s not going to be a large amount, because there isn’t a lot of money," he said.