Public Employee Press

Local 375 wins union recognition victory

DC 37's newest members - a group of 28 Sr. Construction Assessment Specialists - have approved their first contract, which includes nine-year step-pay plan and a 7.16 percent wage increase compounded over 88 months.

The members of Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375 voted 19 to 5 in favor of the pact during a paper ballot vote held Jan. 5 at the SCA in Long Island City.

DC 37 and the SCA hammered out the economic agreement after four months of negotiations, which concluded in December. The workers were classified as managers, but DC 37 petitioned the Public Employment Relations Employees Board to represent them.

"It was a very long negotiating battle," said Sr. Construction Assessment Specialist Julio Morales, who served on the union's bargaining team together with his coworkers Jessie Robinson and Klara Szasz. Zygmunt Jagiello, the president of the local's chapter at SCA, also served on the committee along with David Moog, a senior policy analyst at DC 37, who coordinated the negotiations.

"We got something close to what we wanted," Morales said. "It was a triumph for the workers." "It was definitely a learning experience," Robinson said about the negotiations. "The members voted by more than two-thirds in favor of the contract agreement. It feels good being a part of the process."

The new contract covers an additional compensation fund, sick leave, annual leave, discretionary holidays, a compensatory time program along with a grievance and arbitrations process.

The workers will be covered under the Unit A contract, which affects about 25 technical and professional titles represented by Local 375 at SCA.

Unit A's contract - which follows the pattern of the economic agreement which DC 37 negotiated last year for tens of thousands of its members - calls for a $1,000 ratification bonus, and a 1.5 percent on Dec. 14, 2014, 2.5 percent on Dec. 3, 2015 and 3 percent on Dec. 3, 2016. Earlier raises in the Unit A contract don't apply to the new members since the hikes occurred before they became members.

The highlight of the new agreement for the Sr. Construction Assessment Specialists is the step-pay plan. It provides for an automatic $3,000 salary hike for the first eight steps and $1,500 in the final, ninth year. The minimum salary rate starts at $90,076 and maxes out at $115,576.

The vote capped a two-year union outreach and organizing effort. Anna Nowlan served as the campaign's lead organizer, and Sr. Assistant General Counsel Erica Gray-Nelson handled the representation case at PERB.

"We are excited about having these new members aboard and happy that they gave the contract a strong endorsement," said Local 375 President Claude Fort.