PEP, November 2007: Pay talks start

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

DC 37 and the city commenced bargaining Oct. 16 for a new economic agreement covering about 100,000 members.

At the opening session of the new round of contract talks, the union presented its demands to the city during a meeting at DC 37 headquarters.

The union seeks a four-year agreement with “fair, reasonable and livable” annual wage increases.

“This is the first time in more than 20 years that we have started our negotiations so early,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. She told participants that she had met with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and indicated the union’s hope to wrap up talks before the current contract expires on March 2, 2008.

“We have the power of a union with 123,000 members behind us and we are very serious about the demands that we will be submitting to you,” Roberts told Labor Relations Commissioner James F. Hanley.

The opening session capped months of preparation by the DC 37 Negotiating Committee, which is made up of the council’s 56 local presidents. The committee came up with the demands after considering proposals from locals, recommendations from the DC 37 Research and Negotiations Dept. and outstanding demands from previous bargaining rounds.

At the opening session, Dennis Sullivan, the director of the DC 37 Research and Negotiations Dept., presented Hanley’s negotiating team with copies of the union’s demands. He then explained the union’s rationale for each of the demands, which cover general economic items, health and welfare issues and citywide, civil service and personnel matters.

“We have not come to you with frivolous demands,” Sullivan said. “We come with a set of demands that are substantive, though not numerous,” he said, signaling the union’s willingness to put the negotiations on the fast track.

“We are looking for an expeditious round of bargaining,” he said. “We don’t believe we have a lot of issues that will lead to our knocking heads over many demands.”

Favorable bargaining climate
Sullivan described the current bargaining climate as favorable. He noted that the city has wrapped up new multi-year contracts with other municipal unions that extend as far as 2012 — and that the city is in a very healthy fiscal condition.

One of the union’s demands calls for restoring benefit modifications made in the 2002-05 economic agreement. Those modifications introduced a reduced minimum salary for newly hired employees, as well as reductions in their holidays, sick leave, night differential and terminal leave.

The union also seeks a recurring annuity payment, an employer-provided transit benefit, a hike in the 15-year longevity increment and increases in the mileage and meal allowances.

In addition, the demands call for preserving the current level of health benefits and increasing the city’s welfare fund contribution rate for employees and retirees.

After Sullivan went through the demands, Hanley said, “I don’t have any response today. I will give you a full response in the next session.” As PEP went to press, a second bargaining meeting was scheduled for Nov. 2.

The economic agreement covers nearly 100,000 members at mayoral agencies, cultural institutions, libraries, the Health and Hospitals Corp., the Housing Authority, New York City Transit and the Off-Track Betting Corp. The current contract runs fromJuly 1, 2005, to March 2, 2008. With compounding, it provides for wage increases totaling more than 10 percent.

At the conclusion of the opening session, Roberts addressed the union’s concern about the failure of the City Council to pass local legislation that would ease the residency requirement for municipal employees. The city agreed to the union’s demand for the change during the bargaining for the current contract.

Roberts indicated that the union plans to step up its lobbying campaign for a bill that would ease the residency rule. Hanley reiterated his pledge “to sit shoulder-to-shoulder” with the union at City Council hearings to push for the change.