Oakland Observer Analysis: Proposed OPD Contract Gives Added Backdoor Pay Increases Through “Longevity” Bonus and “Me Too” Raises

On August 27, an Oakland’s City Administrator’s Office press release lauded the City’s negotiating team and the Oakland Police Officer's Association [OPOA] for closing a tentative five-year contract [MOU]. Interim CAO Betsy Lake praised the OPOA MOU as a cost-containing breakthrough and a win for the City’s long-term economic stability, having wrung concessions from the OPOA to balance the raises necessary to maintain and increase OPD staffing. Lake called the MOU “an important step toward containing the City’s long-term compensation costs” and a set of concessions from OPOA recognizing “the very real financial constraints facing the City.”

No Public Discussion of Contract Details

The headline 14%* raise and increased officer pension and healthcare contributions attracted most of the limited reporting in the wake of the press release [and another from OPOA that mirrored it] several weeks ago. But since then, there’s been no reporting from local corporate media nor the City or OPOA about the details of the proposed contract. The Lee administration argued in the press release that the added healthcare and pension contributions from officers will balance pay increases and create greater economic stability over time. So amazing were these concessions, apparently, that City rushed the proposal into the next available council agenda for approval, 9/15—even as the proposed contract was still being ratified by the OPOA rank and file and not available to the public. It’s not clear when the OPOA membership ratified the contract, but the EBT reported on Thursday that it has been approved by members. The contract is being fast-tracked to Council, skipping Rules consideration and committee review using Rule 28, with little time for the public to understand the contents. The proposed contract, and the City’s accompanying legislative report, became available to the public only last Friday evening.

While the contract does increase OPOA’s contributions to benefits and pension, and reduces the usual level in the runaway Cost of Living Adjustment [COLA] raises OPOA has received as de rigeur for over a decade, it contains hidden costs that have not been discussed publicly. The total number of COLA increases in the 2026 contract are about 14%, compared to the 20.5% set of raises OPOA received in the 5 year contract approved in 2018. That contract was reopened in 2022, years before it was set to end, and two more years of 3% raises were added. City leaders and the Schaaf administration at that time argued that the additional raises were necessary to hold on to and recruit officers, as the City’s police force dwindled to historic new lows through attrition and a growing nation-wide disinterest in law enforcement careers. The 2022 extension also thus added fixed “longevity bonuses” to the agreement for those officers staying on for at least 5 years as well as increased requirements for officers who leave OPD before then to pay back a portion of their training costs.

But the actual proportion of pay increases the OPOA membership will receive over the next five years could be greater than 14%, and will be unevenly distributed. For some officers, those increases will exceed those of previous years in ways that are unclear in the immediate term, and virtually unknowable in the long term of the five year contract. That’s thanks to two clauses in the MOU that leave the final total a question that can only be answered by comprehensive research and even so have another unpredictable component. The "longevity" bonuses and "me too" clause add difficult to parse increases to individual police officers and the force as a whole.

Longevity Pay Calculation Changes from Fixed to Proportional Bring Significant Pay Increases

The MOU’s “Longevity” premiums open to officers who’ve logged 5 years and up at the department would add significant percentage increases on top of the raises in two staggered phases—ranging from 2% of base pay for first tier officers at 5 years, to 15% for multi-decade veterans starting in the second year of the contract. Given the actual number in each tier of officers isn’t included in the agenda report, it’s difficult to know without several independent data sets how many officers will benefit from the increases. As the new increases start in 2027, any officer hired from 2022 or before would be eligible to begin collecting the bonuses in that year.

The City’s report notes that the total pay package including the bonuses and minus the increased officer contributions will cost $2.3 MM in this fiscal year, apparently an unbudgeted addition that at least initially belies the claims that the agreement will lead to more manageable budgets. Over the life of the contract, the City’s new proposed pay structure for OPD officers will run a staggering $72 MM total of increases over the current wage structure, compounding in a geometric progression yearly, after subtracting the proposed healthcare and pension concessions. In FY 30-31, the contract will add an additional $28.9 MM to OPD costs over the current costs, in addition to the yearly increases that have come before. The City argues in its report that this is actually a value over previous contracts, and the total yearly pay increases average at 2.48% [instead of over 3%, from previous periods].

But the structure of "longevity" bonuses means some officers are in line for significantly larger raises than others. Officers will get the 14% set of initial raises, compounded with an additional "longevity” pay increase based on that increased wage. For a ten year veteran, that will be 6% of base wage added to the wage increase in the first year of the contract, and that becomes a 9% of base wage bonus beginning in 2028. Unlike previous static bonuses, which were paid once a year in one lump sum, these percentage bonuses will be added to each bi-weekly paycheck.

The total increases would be based on the base wage, itself increased by the up front raises yearly, then on the number of officers in each tier, so a true understanding of the raises would require significant calculation.** The officer rate of yearly pay increases will work more like additional raises rather than a yearly bonus and will be significantly greater in each strata, with the highest, an almost unbelievable 15% of base wage, for officers who’ve been at OPD up to 20 years or more.

“Me Too” Clause Could Add Mystery Raise to the OPOA Contract Months or Even Years from Now

The contract also contains an apparently unprecedented “me too” clause, which would add raises if the city’s civilian unions, which have not yet agreed to terms with the City, receive pay increases above the net increase received by OPOA. Those negotiations, led by IFPTE 10 and SEIU 1021 have gone stagnant and the civilian unions have publicly voiced their dissatisfaction with alleged offers and indifference from the administration.

In apparent frustration, civilian unions have led escalatory actions which recently culminated in shutting down a City Council committee meeting and occupying city hall with a noise and music march.

While OPOA received its yearly raise in FY 2025-26, civilian unions counted on a raise only if the City’s GPF revenues for that fiscal year reached a certain level of solvency—and the GPF did not. As IFPTE and SEIU have foregone raises and received sub-COLA raises over the last decade, those unions could gain a comparatively large raise in any one of the contract years as a form of catching up if they are successful in their efforts.

Previous civilian union gains in the past decade have only been won after strikes, and it's very likely the civilian unions may vote to strike again—a win would then likely result in COLA raises for the civilian unions both in that year, and in the aftermath of a worker action. In 2022, for example, the civilian unions received a 5% raise to catch up with several years of missed COLAs. That is a greater percentage raise than any of the single years in the current OPOA contract.

In a perverse outcome, OPOA could win even higher pay increases following in the draft of potential civilian union strikes.

Oakland Observer reached out to the City Administrator’s for more information about the proposed MOUs, including:

–How near the City is to closing a deal with the civilian bargaining units, and specifically IFPTE 10 and SEIU 1021?
—What is Lee Administration's rationale for rushing this contract to Council before the City has closed contracts with the civilian unions given the “me too” clause.
–What is the total amount for the longevity bonus increases assuming the current staffing figure were to remain constant in 2028?

As of this writing and after repeated queries, three business days before the item will be considered at the 9/15 Council meeting, OO has received no answers. Follow up questions include, the impact of longevity bonuses on pension costs, and the projected number of officers who would receive each level of "longevity" bonus in 2027 and 2028.

*OO is using the City’s own formulation here to describe the sum of the raises, but the raises must be viewed as greater than their sum over the life of the contract, because they are compounded every year with the previous year’s raise. 

** its assumed that the 2028 longevity bonus rate endures every fiscal year until the end of the contract, but the language is vague here in the contract, and the CAO has not answered questions about these changes by press time