Police Protective Association President Lt. Vincent Gavito tells 9NEWS the new agreement will still have to be ratified by the membership, who will vote on it Oct. 5 and 6.
"Our preference has always been that police officers forgo pay raises next year so that no officers would have to be laid off. This proposal allows just that and preserves public safety," Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said in a statement.
Gavito says based on his conversations with "hundreds" of members, he expects officers to approve the new deal.
According to Gavito, the agreement stipulates that officer pay raises will be delayed for 11.5 months.
Officers will get their scheduled 4.5 percent raises in Dec. 2010 instead of Jan. 1, 2010, and a 3 percent raise in 2011.
In exchange, the city will extend the contract with the union until 2012 and officers will get an additional 3 percent raise on July 1, 2012.
In addition, the city has agreed to maintain a compressed four days a week, 10 hours a day schedule for all the assignments currently working in that capacity.
If the 1,450 union members don't ratify this contract, Gavito says the old contract will be in effect, which would mean officers will get their raises and 92 officers will be laid off effective Jan. 1.
Denver is facing a $120 million shortfall and is asking all public safety departments, including police, to give up 8.5 percent.
For DPD, that translates into $6 million.
An option the city presented the union was to amend its current contract and delay until next year the 4.5 percent raise officers are scheduled to get.
The union voted down that proposal on Aug. 31.
The city responded by saying that it would have to lay off the 92 positions on Jan. 1 to meet the budget.
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