Public Employee Press

School Construction Authority pact approved

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

The union's three units at the School Construction Authority unanimously approved new contracts in December. The pacts provide for a $1,000 signing bonus and pay increases totaling 10.41 percent over 88 months.

Modeled on the economic agreement DC 37 negotiated for 100,000 city workers last year, the contracts preserve the SCA workers' health and welfare benefits, allow for gain-sharing initiatives, and expand bereavement and sick leave benefits.

The compounded raises include three 1 percent increases on Dec. 3, 2011, Dec. 3, 2012, and Dec. 3, 2013; 1.5 percent on Dec. 3, 2014; 2.5 percent on Dec. 3, 2015 and 3 percent on Dec. 3, 2016. The increases will be applied to longevities and recurring increment payments. The contracts run from June 3, 2010, through Oct. 2, 2017.

SCA issued the bonus shortly after the units voted on the contracts in December.

SCA Unit B, which includes members in Amalgamated Professional Employees Local 154, Board of Education Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1251, Accountants, Statisticians and Actuaries Local 1407 and Electronic Data Processing Personnel Local 2627, approved its contract Dec. 2 by a 21-0 vote.

Members of Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375 in Units A and C also ratified their contracts in early December, with Unit A voting 169-0 and Unit C 16-0.

The agreement calls for an additional compensation fund equal to 0.52 percent of the Dec. 31, 2011, payroll. The units will determine how the fund will be used. They could fund a floating holiday, increase longevity payments, set up an annuity or create levels for existing titles. The additional compensation fund negotiations must be concluded before the final pay increase.

Senior Analyst David Moog of the DC 37 Research and Negotiations Dept. coordinated the contract talks. Participants from the three units included Local 154 President Juan Fernandez, Local 1251 President Henry Lane, Local 375 President Claude Forte, Local 1407 President Maf Misbah Uddin, Local 2627 President Robert Ajaye, Local 375 Chapter 5 President Zygmunt (Ziggy) Jagiello and chapter officers Charles Komlo, Lorraine Barcant and Philip Killwey.