Public Employee Press

Bargaining news briefs

The following updates on negotiations for unit contracts that cover specific title groups have been provided by the DC 37 Research and Negotiations Dept.

MetroPlus: DC 37’s newest members, clerical workers at the HMO of the Health and Hospitals Corp., voted Oct. 3 to ratify their first contract.

Earlier this year, the MetroPlus workers voted in a union representation election to join Clerical-Administrative Local 1549. More than 300 Enrollment Sales Representatives and Enrollment Sales Assistants work at MetroPlus.

The settlement calls for an $800 longevity raise after 15 years, a $1,000 assignment differential for full-time drivers and due process rights after one year of service.

The pact provides for a minimum5 percent increase in the salary of Enrollment Sales Assistants who are promoted to Enrollment Sales Representative I, II or III. Employees with the title of Enrollment Sales Representative I who are promoted to Level II or Level III will receive the minimum salary for the level or a 5 percent increase, whichever is greater.

CUNY: Locals representing 10,000 members at the City University of New York continue negotiations, which began in February. The contract covers members of ­locals 375, 384, 983, 1407, 1597, 1797 2054 and 2627.

Talks are expected to pick up soon because the Civil Service Employees Association appears close to an agreement with the state.

CSEA is Local 1000 of AFSCME,DC 37’s national union. Negotiations at CUNY are complex, partly because the university system receives state and local funding, meaning that city and state representatives join university administrators at the bargaining table.

Emergency Medical Service: Uniformed Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics Local 2507 and Uniformed EMS Officers Union Local 3621, whose contracts expired in July 2006, continue tough negotiations.

Prevailing Rate: The union is pushing to settle contracts for a number of locals whose members are covered by Section 220 of the labor law.

Some prevailing rate locals have exercised their right to have members’ salaries determined through a process based on surveying the pay of similar workers, rather than following the terms of the economic agreements negotiated for nearly 100,000 members. It is a lengthy process, and the city can go to court to contest the findings of the city Comptroller, whose office conducts the wage surveys.

Union negotiators have met recently with the Office of the Comptroller to object to its determinations concerning Sewage Treatment Workers represented byLocal 1320 and High Pressure Plant Tenders represented by Local 983.

The union is also pressing for meetings with the city.

In addition, DC 37 is urging the Comptroller to complete the survey process for Locksmiths and Radio Repair Mechanics, who are represented by Local 1087. The union is also pushing for action on marine titles represented by Local 2906.

State workers: Negotiations continue on new contracts for state workers represented by Court, County and Probation Dept. Employees Local 1070 and Rent Regulation Services Employees ­Local 1359. The old contracts expired April 1.