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Police also paid for Evacuation Day, VJ Day

By Stacie N. Galang
Staff Writer
Published: October 21, 2008

PEABODY — It's not just Sept. 11; Peabody police also get holiday pay for 13 other days, including Evacuation Day and Victory Over Japan Day.

The police union's latest contract grants time-and-a-quarter pay for Sept. 11, whether an officer works that day or not. The deal has drawn fire.

Union President Manny Costa said the majority of the holidays had been agreed to decades earlier. He couldn't be sure how or when they were added to the contract.

"There's not many guys who were around when they were put on," he said of the obscure holidays.

Evacuation Day, which happens to fall on St. Patrick's Day, is only observed officially in Suffolk County.

Peabody firefighters get 14 paid holidays a year, including VJ Day and Firefighters Memorial Sunday.

Yet providing holiday pay for days not recognized nationally or statewide is common practice in communities beyond Peabody.

Salem firefighters get Evacuation Day and Firefighters Memorial Sunday. Beverly police and firefighters also get their respective memorial Sundays.

In all, firefighters in Salem get 13 holidays, while police officers receive 11. Beverly's fire and police departments get 12 paid holidays. Danvers provides 11 paid holidays a year for both public safety departments.

Most firefighters and police officers — regardless of community — receive added pay for 11 widely accepted holidays including New Year's Day, Memorial Day, July Fourth, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Peabody Finance Director Patricia Schaffer said police officers and firefighters work what's called a 4-2 schedule, four days on and two off.

The rotation dictates whether an officer works a holiday. All of them receive time-and-a-quarter holiday pay regardless of whether they work.

Schaffer said the time-and-a-quarter rate had been negotiated long before she arrived at City Hall.

The city likely saved money initially because it was lower than the usual time-and-a-half, but as negotiations evolved the savings were lost, she said.

"It was established long before my time," Schaffer said.

In Beverly, police officers receive holiday pay for Police Memorial Sunday on the first Sunday in June and firefighters earn a paid day for Firefighters Memorial Sunday, according to Beverly Human Resources director Pauline Texeira.

Beverly police spokesman John McCarthy said officers get paid for the first six holidays in June and the next six in December. He said the earnings are "a straight day's pay."

Salem firefighters take 13 holidays, including Evacuation Day and Firefighters Memorial Sunday, according to Salem Human Resources Director Lisa Cammarata. Salem police get 11 holidays, she said.

In Salem, holiday pay is time-and-a-half, whether one works the day or not, Cammarata said.

Town Manager Wayne Marquis said Danvers firefighters receive time-and-a-quarter if they work the holiday or time-and-a-fifth if they don't.

Danvers police earn double pay if they work July Fourth, Thanksgiving and Christmas. They receive time-and-a-quarter for the other holidays.

As an incentive for not taking days off near holidays, Danvers officers also earn time-and-a-quarter pay for working the day before and after a scheduled holiday.

Peabody's Costa said his officers tend to have a lower base pay than surrounding communities' police, even with the new contract.

The trade-off is that they receive generous health care packages and other benefits, including the holidays.

"That was one of the benefits to keeping the pay low," Costa said.

In the latest round of contract talks, the negotiations team looked for better pay.

"Again, we're taxpayers," he said. "We're feeling it, as well. We understand what the public is paying."

He said union negotiators proposed Sept. 11 to remember the people who lost their lives that day.

Costa said the suggestion was well-received by the city, and neither side anticipated any backlash.

"We're not getting rich off of it," he said. "It's nothing more than memorializing the day and police and fire for what they do for a living."

In fact, the union president thought the public would have responded in a positive way.

"We never, ever thought it was going to come to this," he said.

Holiday pay

Area police and firefighters are paid for a range of holidays, including some that are not recognized nationally or even statewide.

Peabody

Police: 14 days, including Sept. 11, Evacuation Day, Victory Over Japan Day

Firefighters: 14 days, including VJ Day and Firefighters Memorial Sunday

Salem

Police: 11 days

Firefighters: 13 days, including Evacuation Day and Firefighters Memorial Sunday

Beverly

Police: 12 days, including Police Memorial Sunday

Firefighters: 12 days, including Firefighters Memorial Sunday

Danvers

Police: 11 days

Firefighters: 11 days