Public Employee Press

Delegates approve contract demands

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

DC 37 delegates moved the union closer to negotiating a new economic agreement for 100,000 members by voting March 16 to approve bargaining demands proposed by the Negotiating Committee.

The Delegates Council, the highest governing body in DC 37, approved the demands for DC 37’s next round of negotiations with the city by a unanimous voice vote.

The activists voted after DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts and Research and Negotiations Director Dennis Sullivan briefed them about the bargaining climate in the city, outlined the demands and discussed the union’s negotiating strategy.

Tough bargaining ahead

This round of contract talks will be particularly challenging because they will take place during an economic downturn, with the city and state facing bleak fiscal situations, Sullivan said. “We face difficult times, but we have been down this route before. DC 37 and the city have always managed to find solutions that both parties can live with.”

Roberts told the Public Employee Press that she hopes the gloom-and-doom budget picture will improve once the federal government allocates additional economic stimulus funds to the state. Thanks to the Wall Street bailout, the city’s revenues are running signifi cantly higher than previously anticipated, which will make it harder for the city to claim poverty, she noted.

“Before we formally ask the city to set a date to begin meeting with us, we will continue to discuss our bargaining strategy while we dot the ‘i’s and cross the ‘t’s of our demands,” Roberts said. “We plan to approach this very deliberately and carefully.”

The general economic demands include the term of the contract and wages. The union doesn’t publicly release its demands until it presents them to the city. The unionwide bargaining proposals also cover such issues as job security, retirement, health and security issues and civil service and personnel topics.

The union’s most recent two-year economic agreement expired March 2. Its terms will remain in effect during the negotiations.

Among the 100,000 workers covered by the economic agreement are members at mayoral agencies throughout the city, as well as members at the Health and Hospitals Corp., the New York City Housing Authority,the Dept. of Education and libraries and cultural institutions. The contract does not cover state and prevailing rate employees, uniformed Emergency Medical Service workers, Maintainer titles at the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority and DC 37 members who work for the City University, School Construction Authority and a handful of private employers.

The DC 37 Negotiating Committee spent the last few months crafting the demands and discussing the union’s negotiating strategy. The presidents of DC 37’s 55 union locals make up the committee.

The Research and Negotiations Dept. held a training session on negotiations practices and background for new members on March 8 (see Local leaders sharpen their negotiating skills).

Besides dealing with the economic agreement, the committee is discussing the Citywide Contract, which deals with general working conditions and other nonwage matters, such as time and leave, eligibility for health insurance coverage, and personnel and pay practices. The citywide contract also covers annual leave, overtime, meal and car allowances and shift differentials.

The committee is also looking at unit contracts, which deal with economic matters and working conditions for specific groups of workers that are not addressed by the unionwide economic agreement