Public Employee Press

Contract talks speed up

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

As union members geared up for the “Fair Contract Now!” rally in October, District Council 37 and city negotiators sat down at the bargaining table for two productive sessions.

At the meetings, union and city negotiators agreed to establish joint technical committees, which met Oct. 30, to discuss issues including the transit benefit, alternate work schedules and telecommuting.

In a further effort to move along the talks, both sides withdrew and modified some demands.

“We are making progress, but we still have a way to go,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts Oct. 28 after the sixth bargaining session of the current round. “By rolling up our sleeves at the technical meetings and showing some give-and-take on our demands at the table, we are moving closer to dealing with the core issues of pay and health care.” Union and city negotiators were scheduling additional bargaining sessions as PEP went to press.

The benefit issue
The union’s bargaining is occurring in tandem with discussions between the Municipal Labor Committee and the city about health care costs and benefits. The MLC coordinates bargaining on welfare and health benefits on behalf of unions representing about 300,000 city employees, including DC 37 members.

The MLC Steering Committee includes Ms. Roberts, who serves as secretary, Veronica Montgomery-Costa, president of DC 37 and of Dept. of Education Employees Local 372, and Charles Ensley, president of Social Services Employees Union Local 371.

In recent weeks, the steering committee and city have had intense negotiations over the future of the PICA program, which covers psychotropic, injectable, chemotherapy and asthma drugs, and other questions.

Another key issue concerns awarding a new contract to run the city’s $1 billion health insurance program. Awarding the contract and resolving the PICA dispute would help clarify the city’s employee health care costs and could ultimately jump-start the talks on wages, said Dennis Sullivan, director of the DC 37 Research and Negotiations Dept.

At a caucus during the Oct. 28 session, Eileen Muller, president of Brooklyn Library Guild Local 1482, said library workers wouldn’t be able to afford higher co-pays for PICA drugs. Noting that libraries are full of insects called book mites, she said that many library workers are afflicted by asthma. The PICA program has co-pays for brand-name psychotropic and injectable drugs, but it doesn’t charge for chemotherapy and asthma drugs.

Stuart Leibowitz, president of the Retirees Association of DC 37, pointed out that nationwide, employers are seeking deep cutbacks in their health care programs and new or higher co-pays as they face costs that are rising faster than overall inflation. He called protecting health care benefits the union’s greatest priority.

As the union’s negotiations proceed, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has continued to insist that municipal unions fund pay raises for members through productivity savings.

The talks are taking place against a backdrop of budgetary pressure on the city. Although business tax revenues have been rising, Mr. Bloomberg recently called for most agency heads to come up with 3 percent across-the-board cuts for a budget modification in November.

On Oct. 22, members of the union’s Bargaining Caucus challenged Mr. Bloomberg’s position on productivity. With its 200 members, the caucus serves as a sounding board for the rank and file in contract talks. The Negotiating Committee, made up of the union’s 56 local presidents, sits at the bargaining table."

“A lot of people are already much more productive because of the staff shortages and cutbacks that have occurred over the years,” said Local 768 member Michele Wilson, a Respiratory Therapist.

The productivity question
“I think the word ‘productivity’ should really be scrutinized,” said Local 1407 member Arlen Aikens, an Associate Workers Compensation Benefits Examiner. “In the case of many civil service titles, we are doing jobs in which it is really difficult to gauge productivity.”

“Simply put, productivity is the mayor saying to his rich supporters that ‘We are not going to give anything to these working stiffs,’ ” said the Rev. Lawrence Lucas, a member of Local 299.