Why I Love Arthur Goldberg

Justice Arthur Goldberg

Why would a Republican like me wish to write about a Liberal Democrat like former Justice Arthur Goldberg? Well it is very simple: Justice Goldberg was asked to resign his position on the Supreme Court by President Johnson in 1965 to become the Ambassador to the United Nations for the United States.

When he resigned from the job as Ambassador he returned to his law practice. It was here that he was called upon by the then mayor of New York City to act as an arbitrator in a law suit filed by the NYCPD Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA).

Sgt. Harold Melnick, the President of the SBA, sued the city for what was then called "PAY PARITY," citing the reasons why a NYC sergeant should be paid the same wage as a NYC Fire lieutenant. The attorneys for the SBA showed that when a fireman takes a test for promotion and passes, he is made a lieutenant with pay equal to that of a NYCPD lieutenant.

When a patrolman is promoted to sergeant he receives 25% less than a NYCPD lieutenant and 25% less than a FD lieutenant. To reach the pay of the FD lieutenant or PD lieutenant he must take a second test. Retired Justice Goldberg agreed with the SBA, and handed down a decision in favor of the SBA. This decision gave each NYC PD sergeant a pay increase retroactive to the start of the suit! I really liked the Liberal Democrat, now retired from the Earl Warren Supreme Court!

Unknown to everyone at the time was the Administrative Code, which had a little known ordinance that dictated the pay scale for a policeman, sergeant, lieutenant and captain. The Administrative Code said in effect: for every $1.00 a patrolman earns, a sergeant will receive $1.25; for every $1.25 a sergeant is paid, a lieutenant will receive $1.50; for every $1.50 a lieutenant is paid, a captain will receive $2.00.

Right up the line the lieutenants, and captains sued for "PAY PARITY." This was a no brainier. Ret. Justice Goldberg agreed and the lieutenants and captains were made happy too. Now the Patrolman's Benevolent Association (PBA) sued the City for "PAY PARITY" based on the Administrative Code, with that formerly little known ordinance pay scale percentage in effect. Once again Justice Goldberg is forced to agree and 30,000 policeman are made happy with the pay raise.

If you think this is the end of the story you're wrong! The NYC FD sued the city because their pay scale was based on the salary that a policeman earned. Unfortunately for the City, Justice Goldberg had to agree and the Fire Department employees all received their raise to be on par with the Police Department members.

Do you really believe that I would tell you this story based on the facts you have just read? Well you're wrong again! I decided to tell you this story because when it ended I was in love with the Retired, Liberal Supreme Court Justice, Arthur Goldberg.

Would you believe that Harold Melnick, President of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, then had the chutzpah to start a SECOND lawsuit based on "PAY PARITY" with the Fire Lieutenants! Once again Justice Goldberg was forced to agree with their demands.

As it now stood, after the first raises went through, a complete round robin of pay raises had to be granted to everyone on the condition that it stops right here: no more "Pay Parity" Law Suits! I do believe this may have been a factor in later years in the city almost going bankrupt.

Now you know why I loved Justice Goldberg. The two Pay Parity raises I received were added to my retirement Pension Fund and every month I receive the benefits from these two law suits!