Posted by Hal Dardick at 6:11 p.m.
After going nearly three years without a contract, Chicago police officers expect to learn Friday how much of a raise they’ll get when an arbitrator releases his decision.
Officials with both Mayor Richard Daley’s administration and the Fraternal Order of Police said they expect to receive the decision by 8 a.m. Friday. Both sides said they plan to brief reporters later in the day.
Police have been working without a contract since the end of June 2007. The matter went to an independent arbitrator last year after negotiations broke down.
Although the arbitration technically only applies to rank-and-file officers, lieutenants and captains will get the same raise because of clauses in their recently-approved contracts.
Police also are expected to get back pay as part of the decision. City Hall has set aside $70 million to cover the costs of the decision and a similar one expected for the city’s firefighters, said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a government budget watchdog.
“There’s no guarantee that there’s enough,” Msall said. “We don’t know what the arbitration decision will be.”
Police got raises of about 4 percent a year as a result of an arbitration announced in late February 2005. The four-year contract stretched back to July 2003 and saw police union members chip in more to cover health care.