Public Employee Press

Pay talks: slim progress at September session

The union and the city met Sept. 22 in the latest session of the current round of bargaining talks for a new economic contract, which will affect nearly 100,000 members.

Last month’s meeting followed a tense July bargaining session, where union negotiators expressed anger at the slow pace of negotiations and the city increased its pay offer by a small amount. At the Sept. 22 meeting, the union responded to the city’s latest proposal and modified its own demands.

New York City Labor Commissioner James F. Hanley was absent, so the session didn’t last long. Before the meeting broke up, the union urged the city negotiating team, led by 1st Deputy Labor Commissioner Margaret Connor, to agree to a new bargaining date soon.

Dennis Sullivan, director of the DC 37 Research and Negotiations Dept., underscored the union’s long-time willingness to work with the city to reach a negotiated settlement even during periods when the bargaining climate is particularly difficult. The union’s latest proposal, Sullivan said, points to its commitment to keep the talks on track toward a settlement.

“This union is unique,” DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts said. “It represents 1,000 titles and many, many members. And that must be considered as we work to negotiate a contract that addresses our needs.”

As negotiations continue, the union is preparing to call public attention to the city’s excessive spending on contracting out, which has reached more than $9 billion this year, an increase of nearly 40 percent since fiscal year 2005 (see 'Contracting out skyrockets'). By reining in wasteful spending on a contractors and consultants, the city could free up resources to deal with its fiscal problems, Roberts said.

The economic agreement covers about 100,000 DC 37 members at mayoral agencies throughout the city, aswell as members at the New York City Housing Authority, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Off-Track Betting Corp., the Health and Hospitals Corp. and cultural institutions. The current contract expired on March, but its terms remain in effect as the negotiations continue.

Economic “storm clouds”

In a report to the Delegates Council on Sept. 23, Sullivan sketched a sobering picture of the economic climate in light of new spending cuts imposed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression to hit the financial sector, one of the city’s largest employers and taxpayers.

Earlier that day, Bloomberg ordered city agencies to cut spending by 2.5 percent, or $500 million, in fiscal year 2009 and 5 percent, or $1 billion, in fiscal year 2010. He announced the cuts as Congress was considering the Bush administration’s $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan.

“There are big storm clouds,” Sullivan said, referring to projected budget deficits in fiscal years 2010 and 2011. “But this union has a tremendous ability to be resilient.”

—Gregory N. Heires