By GREGORY N. HEIRES

Municipal unions won an agreement June 18 that links early retirement incentives to job security.

The city agreed to implement a broad-based early retirement plan and pledged there would be no layoffs during the plan's enrollment period. The unions agreed to legislation to stretch out city payments to pension systems for retirees' cost-of-living adjustments.

The funding "stretch out" will help close the city's $5 billion budget gap but will not delay COLA payments to retirees.

"These negotiations were very tough at times, but we made it clear that we were not going to agree without getting some benefits for our members," said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts.

"We're pleased that we got management to agree to no layoffs during the early retirement window period - and that we convinced the city to carry out a broad-based program, which will be available to tens of thousands of members," Ms. Roberts said. "And this agreement provides fiscal relief to the city without an adverse impact on our membership."

Layoff protection extended
The Municipal Labor Committee, which includes unions that represent 300,000 city workers, struck the deal with the city the day before the mayor and City Council agreed on a new budget. Ms. Roberts is secretary of the MLC, which is chaired by United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.

Under the agreement, the city will offer early retirement to as many municipal workers as possible and guarantees that layoffs won't occur during the open enrollment period. The pact is important for DC 37, because it extends job security for the vast majority of members just as the union's contract expires on June 30.

The extension of the COLA payments is a technical financial step that will allow the city to save $275 million-$300 million in fiscal year 2003 with no effect on members or retirees. The agreement also includes a voluntary severance program, which must be negotiated with the unions.

Cultural institutions are not covered by the pact, but DC 37 is pressing the library systems to participate.

As members of the MLC steering committee, Veronica Montgomery-Costa, president of DC 37 and Board of Education Employees Local 372, and Health Services Employees Local 768 President Helen Greene were part of the negotiating team with Ms. Roberts. Research and Negotiations Director Dennis Sullivan provided key technical support together with DC 37 General Counsel Joel Giller and Associate Director Evelyn Seinfeld and Assistant Director Michael Musuraca of the DC 37 Research and Negotiations Department.

The $275 million-$300 million "pension stretch" is part of the $500 million in so-called labor contributions included in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's budget balancing plan. The MLC agreed to discuss additional savings, but Ms. Weingarten underscored that willingness to meet on this issue doesn't suggest that the unions would agree to givebacks.

Goal: avoid layoffs
The agreement establishes a "labor-management workforce committee" to discuss issues related to the early retirement incentive and severance programs. "The objective of the committee will be to avoid layoffs," the agreement states.

The June 18 agreement also contains the following important provisions for DC 37 members: