By Barbara Heimlich
Editor
The Stratford Police Union has hired Attorney Norm Pattis as it looks to negotiate a pension with the town. Pattis issued a news release Wednesday, July 17th, saying the union has “taken the extraordinary step of hiring counsel to defend it and its membership as it goes public with its appeal for equity and economic security.”
Pattis said that since 2010, rank-and-file members of Stratford Police Union Local 407 have worked without a pension. Efforts by the union to negotiate a pension have been met with “threats of retaliation and, historically, with layoffs threatened,” according to Pattis.
“Wouldn’t it make more sense to engage in fair and public negotiations about how best to assure a secure future for all of Stratford’s nearly 100 police officers,” Pattis said in the news release.
Pattis also claimed in the news release that the town has had “some difficulty” getting officers to volunteer to serve at the Blues on the Beach event on Saturday, July 20.
“That is because there is a morale crisis threatening to cripple the efficient operation of the department,” according to the news release. “Stratford has become little more than a training ground with officers leaving soon after they arrive for better opportunities elsewhere.”
Pattis encouraged residents attending the Blues on the Beach event to “take a moment to thank a local officer for his or her dedication and service.”
“And then search for the mayor and ask the following: ‘Wouldn’t it be better to pay our public servants an adequate pension rather than seeing overtime used indiscriminately to prop up an administration that is rapidly losing the confidence of its membership?’” Pattis wrote.
Stratford Mayor Laura R. Hoydick said the administration “takes issue with the false information presented on behalf of Local 407” in Pattis’s news release.
“All of Public Safety staff is paid for during our celebrate festivals, including Blues on the Beach and the fireworks,” Hoydick said in a statement. “The off-the-record pension negotiations with SPD were done with the understanding of confidentiality and entered into in good faith by the Town. Their contract is not up for 2 years. Contracts are not negotiated in public and these false charges by the Union serve only to undermine our private discussions.”
The Crier contacted Attorney Pattis regarding the Mayor’s comments, and he stated he had “no comment”.
Multiple calls to Stratford Police Union Local 407 President Sergeant Jamie Rivera were not returned.
