From Indiana:
Question: In the city where I am employed, when an officer accepts a promotion to sergeant, or a sergeant accepts a promotion to lieutenant, they lose all of their seniority rights (vacation bidding, shift preference, forced overtime details). The fire department in the same city does not strip away firefighter supervisor seniority. This means a firefighter supervisor in the exact same step & grade in the city matrix as a police supervisor do not have fair or equal rights. Is this practice potentially discriminatory? Do you have a recommendation? Does this violate any labor laws?
Answer: Interesting parity question. Absent a specific statutory requirement that police and fire pay and benefits be equal (and some of those do exist), there is no common law requirement that police and fire pay or benefits be the same. Regarding seniority, in collective bargaining states parties are free to set rules related to seniority in the case of promotions and demotions, as evidenced by the different systems used in your city. While there may be no legal basis to compel the city to adjust seniority rules to match fire, it would not be unusual for a group in your position to point to the fire seniority rules as a goal in bargaining. Be advised, however, that parity cuts both ways, so if police have a better deal than fire in other areas, you should expect the employers to highlight those differences in their response.
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