NYPD officers protest drafted 1 percent raise at arbitrator's home

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Thousands of NYPD officers protested Thursday morning in front of the Upper East Side home of the arbitrator who drafted a decision to give them a 1 percent raise in the next two years.

The officers from the New York City Police Department gathered outside arbitrator Howard Edelman's apartment building at 63rd Street and York Avenue.

They had an "RIP NYPD" coffin and a 24-foot inflatable "union rat;" the officers who were not in uniform chanted, "Whose blood? Our blood! ... Whose lives? Our lives!" Some protesters carried signs reading, "The fix is in."

Edelman was assigned to mediate the union's 24-month contract deal after negotiations between the city and the PBA reached a stalemate.

The officers are protesting his proposed retroactive raise of 1 percent over the next two years. Patrolmen's Benevolent Association members have been working under an expired contract since 2010.

PBA President Pat Lynch called the contract draft a parrot offer of the city's.