Police officer, firefighter unions meet with mayor over city contracts

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Contract talks were held Monday between the city of Los Angeles and unions representing police officers and city firefighters.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti was all smiles as he sat down with officials from the unions that represent the city's police and fire departments. But reporters were not allowed to remain in the conference room for Monday morning's closed-door meeting.

After the 90-minute meeting, Garcetti said the talks went well but there were no breakthroughs.

Currently LAPD officers are working with an expired contract. The rank-and-file rejected the city's last offer in July. And last week more than 100 officers jammed into council chambers at City Hall, making their case for a better contract.

The city's latest offer would have provided $70 million for overtime pay instead of comp time. It would have also provided a pay increase for new officers, from $50,000 to $56,000 per year. But the offer did not include an across-the-board pay raise.

The mayor acknowledges the sacrifices made by members of the LAPD, but he says the city simply can't afford a raise.

The city is also in the middle of negotiating a new contract with the firefighters union. One of the issues firefighters are addressing, according to the firefighters union, is forced overtime.

Garcetti says it's not clear how long it will take for the city to reach agreements with both unions, but the talks continue.