Public Employee Press

With OTB facing bankruptcy
Local 2021 members ratify severance pact

Members of OTB Employees Local 2021 voted overwhelmingly Oct. 6 to ratify an agreement that offers severance payments of $12,000 to full-time employees, $7,000 to part-timers and $3,000 to per diem workers in an effort to cut staff by 550 and avert layoffs.

The union provided full details of the Memorandum of Understanding to members before the vote - 271 to 139 - which was conducted by the American Arbitration Association.

The OTB managers union also voted to accept the terms of the pact by a 2-to-1 margin. The severance money in the pact with the New York City Off-Track Betting Corp., which is in bankruptcy proceedings, totals $3.35 million.

The pact preserves members' wages, medical and welfare benefits and pensions, but it ends Sunday double-time pay for about 300 OTB workers and eliminates per diem employees.

To avoid layoffs, OTB set aside funds for the one-time voluntary severance payments. The agreement provides 2 percent wage increases plus another 2 percent in 36 months and allows for a new contract next year between the state and Local 2021. The new pact protects pension and health benefits for NYC OTB employees who came under state jurisdiction in 2008, but it does not include the retroactive pay hikes of DC 37's economic agreement with the city.

The plan establishes a recall list for any workers laid off in the restructuring. At the union's insistence, OTB agreed to give full-time Betting Clerks the opportunity to go into field operations, said White Collar Division Director Mike Riggio, who led the meeting.

While the new agreement supersedes the pact the union negotiated in December 2009, it protects union workers as the OTB Corp. continues to restructure under Chapter 9 of the federal bankruptcy law. For the pact to take effect, Albany must enact new legislation and the bankruptcy judge must approve. Additionally, the new plan introduces a productivity bonus that would give NYC OTB employees 20 percent of any audited net income above $8 million. The Labor- Management Committee, which includes DC 37, would discuss how to distribute the funds.

Day-to-day operations at OTB would continue uninterrupted as the new OTB plan reduces the payroll through voluntary retirements and separations with severance pay. Already, about 440 Local 2021 members have expressed interest in the severance package, Riggio said, as it is a strong option for employees with low seniority.

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts and Local 2021 President Lenny Allen led the negotiating team, which included Local 2021 Vice President Paulette Sher, White Collar Division Director Riggio and Assistant Director Chris Wilgenkamp, General Counsel Mary O'Connell and Senior Assistant General Counsel Steve Sykes, Acting Director Evelyn Seinfeld and Senior Analyst David Moog of the Research and Negotiations Dept., and Political Action and Legislation Director Wanda Williams.

—DSW