Cash-strapped municipalities need every last bit of help they can get to balance their budgets. But scraping together extra funds by trimming the salaries and benefits paid to firefighters and police officers can be a legal and political minefield. So when Allentown and Reading needed assistance in recent years to negotiate with those first responders, the cities called on the labor and employment department at Ballard Spahr, and the firm delivered.
In 2012, Ballard Spahr attorneys found Reading some fiscal relief in the form of wage freezes for the Fraternal Order of Police, as well as reduced starting rates, the elimination of post-retirement health benefits for new hires, a reduction in paid time off and more. Last year, the firm did much the same for Allentown in the city’s firefighter interest arbitration. The result, which has since been appealed, included a wage freeze, reductions in pension benefits for new hires, reductions in paid time off and increased employee contributions for health care.
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