Tucson Police Wage Arbitration

Compensation Case Study After reading attached pdf file, answer discussion questions listed end case study ( discussion questions). The answers demonstrate analyzed issues. In addition, format case a formal writing includes developing introduction conclusion essay format. your purchase.h Compensation case study The police are charged with maintaining law and order. They are also charged with protecting the citizen's life and property, and they are on call at all hours.

The police need good wages commensurate with their responsibilities if they are to perform their duties as expected, which will ensure that they are able to deliver on their sworn duties. The arbitration of wage disputes ensures that the city council and the police association will have the opportunity to present their cases, and a neutral party gauges them based on their merits. The arbitrator will then offer recommendations to both parties.

The arbitration panel will make considerations based on the arguments presented by both parties in an attempt to solve the dispute (Horton, 2011). Justification for a pay increase Some of the stronger arguments for justifying a pay increase include the proximity of the town to the Mexican border. This means that the town is prone to having many illegal immigrants, which would require the Tucson police intervention. Compared to the regional salary data it is evident that the Tucson police is underpaid.

Tucson police are five percent below average according to the Arizona public safety survey. Some of the weakest arguments include that the city council has the ability to pay the raise (Reeves, 2006). Arguing that the city council has the capability to meet the proposed raise because it is able to pay for other non-high priority payments.

Basing the pay increase argument on the increase of prices is a weak point since this does not demonstrate that the police truly require the increase, but rather it shows that the price of commodities has been on the increase. Past negotiations have indicated that the city council could pay a salary increase for the police officers. Basing their argument based on the past activities could be both a strong and a weak argument.

The argument is strong since it indicates that the council has not effected any pay increase for some time. The weakness of the arguments presented is that it is not mandatory that the city council effects a pay increase based on its past practices. Reasons for not granting the pay increase across the board The Tucson police are not unhappy with their current salaries. The few police officers who resign from their positions show proof of this. Retirement is the main cause of turnover in the Tucson police.

This indicates that the police are not leaving their jobs for other better paying jobs. The city council is able to attract and retain police officers. The council has proof that they are able to attract applicants from out of state and other Arizona cities. This is a demonstration that the salaries offered by the council are competitive and attractive. Currently, the Tucson budget cannot handle an across the board pay increase for the police.

This is because the increase would have a negative effect on the advances made by the city, which has the potential to increase the crime rate in the city. The least persuasive arguments are justifying the expensive construction and building projects that the city has undertaken. These projects have depleted the city's budget, but this is not a persuasive argument for not awarding an across the board pay increase. Arbitrator recommendations to the mayor and city council The mayor and the city council should aim for a compromise.

They should agree and set up small increases for all the officers. This would demonstrate their willingness towards the police force and the police association would be more understanding and patient. Encouraging and rewarding officers based on their performance would promote good work ethics. The officers are more likely to improve on their performance if they are well compensated and their efforts recognized by the city council. The mayor should not accept all the requests and proposals submitted by the police association.

Accepting all the requests would demonstrate to the police association that they can be easily pushed, but weighing on the proposals and choosing the ones to accept would make more sense. This would also demonstrate to the police association their willingness to compromise and reach a workable solution to the pay increases across the board (Carrell & Bales, 2013). Principles considered by the arbitration panel The arbitration panel applied the principles of employer's ability to pay, comparability of the wages with other competitive employers, and analysis of past practices and negotiations.

The ability to pay allowed the arbitration panel to gauge if the city council had the capability and could afford to pay the proposed pay increase. A failure to apply this principle would have led to arbitration without a proper understanding of the employer's ability. Comparing the officers' wages with other employees allowed the panel to understand the competition for employees. Competition will always determine the need for competitive salaries, which would demand that the city council pays the salary increment.

The previous history negotiations indicate to the panel how the city council has handled previous salary increase.