Public Employee Press

Wage talks set for Nov. 10

District Council 37 will begin bargaining with the city Nov. 10 on a new economic agreement for 100,000 members.

"These are tough economic times for public employees," said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, noting that the union is opening negotiations as public service workers are under attack by antigovernment interests around the country. "So we will be doing our best to fight for a contract with economic security and fair pay increases," she said.

The latest wage agreement expired March 2, 2010, when members received the second of two 4 percent pay increases. The terms of the contract remain in effect.

"We have done extensive work in preparing our economic demands. Our members need a raise because they have lost ground as they have faced rising prices," DC 37 Research and Negotiations Director Evelyn Seinfeld said.

The Bloomberg administration has often claimed poverty and asked unions to "find the money" for their own raises. "We have done the research, held the hearings and identified the waste and the revenue the city fails to collect. We are ready to negotiate based on the facts," said Roberts.

The DC 37 Negotiating Committee, which includes the union's 55 local presidents, has met over the past year to map bargaining strategy and plan demands, which the Delegates Council approved.

The economic agreement covers members at mayoral agencies, the Health and Hospitals Corp., New York City Housing Authority. libraries and cultural institutions.

—GNH