Public Employee Press

Secretaries to judges win union representation in Local 1070

DC 37 won a four-year struggle to provide union rights for 176 state court employees in December when Court, County and Probation Dept. Employees Local 1070 became the official representative of employees in the Secretary to Judge title.

"Everyone in the state court system in that title was represented by a union except those in New York City," said Local President Cliff Koppelman. "Management at the Office of Court Administration unilaterally stripped them of union representation and job security, so we took them to court."

Verna Miller-King worked 20 years in the union title Law Stenographer to Acting Justice, but when the justice was finally elected, she was forced to take the unrepresented Secretary to Judge title performing the same duties. "I passed the civil service test, passed my probation and had permanent civil service status, but all that was ripped away without warning," she said.

When acting justices are elected, in New York City, their Secretaries and Law Stenographers lose civil service protections, explained Secretary to Judge Kathleen Skillen: "With no job security, a lot got kicked out."

To protect these unrepresented workers, Local 1070 and DC 37 filed with the Public Employment Relations Board for the right to represent them. OCA appealed each union victory to the courts.

"It's hard to fight the court system in the courts, but we won," said Local Vice President Fausto Sabatino.

Koppelman, Sabatino, Schwartz and the late Tom DeRosa worked with DC 37 White Collar Division Assistant Director Chris Wilgenkamp to organize the Secretaries, meeting at courthouses citywide to inform the employees of the rights, benefits and protections that come with DC 37 membership.

"We fought a constant uphill fight to give these unrepresented court employees a voice in the workplace," Wilgenkamp said. "Finally after much work by the organizing committee, important testimony from Miller-King and Skillen and strong representation by DC 37 General Counsel Mary O'Connell, the union won. We are pleased to welcome them into Local 1070 and look forward to their involvement in our coming contract negotiations."

Koppelman said the union would "go to court to win back jobs of any Law Stenographer or Secretary to Judge who is pushed out or forced into early retirement."

"It's good to be in the DC 37 family," said Miller-King.

"Before, we had an association but not a union," said Skillen. "We're glad we're now part of DC 37 - and the benefits are better."