PEP, July 2006 Special Issue: New contract boosts wages and benefits

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

Over 100,000 DC 37 members will get wage and benefit increases totaling more than 10 percent with no concessions under a proposed new contract.

The economic agreement would raise members’ pay by 9.42 percent over its 32-month and two-day duration.

“In an era when public employees are under attack around the country, we stuck to our guns at the bargaining table, and our persistence paid off,” DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts said.

“Without agreeing to givebacks, we have won a substantial pay increase for members, a major infusion of money into our welfare fund, and an important easing of residency requirements.”

DC 37 and city negotiators agreed to the pact July 12 after a marathon negotiating session of nearly 11 hours. To take effect, the tentative contract must be ratified by union members in a secret ballot vote.

Roberts: “Mayor listened”
Roberts and a contingent from the DC 37 Negotiating Committee, which includes all 56 local presidents, joined Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg July 17 at City Hall to announce the proposed economic agreement.

The mayor called the pact “a fair labor settlement that serves the needs of both the city and union members.”

He said the pay, benefit and residency rule improvements “will give a much deserved increase and additional flexibility” to DC 37 union members who “every day contribute to the welfare and operation of our city.”

Roberts said that over the years, she has “been able to talk to Mayor Bloomberg about our members’ issues, and he has listened.”

The pact will increase members’ wages by 3.15 percent, retroactive to July 1, 2005, 2 percent as of Aug. 1, 2006, and 4 percent on Feb. 1, 2007. The percentages are compounded, or calculated on top of each other, bringing the total to 9.42 percent. The highlights link above summarizes the key gains of the contract, which runs from July1, 2005, to March 2, 2008.

Delegates recommend ‘yes’ vote
The DC37 Delegates Council met July 25 and overwhelmingly recommended a ‘Yes’ vote to members. Ballots will be mailed to covered members Aug. 4 by the American Arbitration Association and must be received at the AAA by 9 a.m. Aug. 25, the day the votes will be counted.

Covered members (see below) who do not receive ballots by Aug. 10 should call the AAA at 1-800-529-5218 to request a ballot.

If the contract is ratified, members should get raises totaling over 5percent and their retroactive pay in October.

The DC 37 Research and Negotiations Dept. provided the following examples of the effect of the pay hikes that members will receive:

The 9.42 percent raises for employees making $25,000 before the contract will total $2,355, bringing their pay to $27,355 when the pact expires on March 2, 2008. During the contract, this will mean new money totaling $4,057 (16.23 percent of their original pay) that they would otherwise not have received. If the contract is ratified in time for the first two raises to be paid in early October, their retroactive check would be about $1,070.
Employees at $35,000 would get raises of $3,298 during the contract, bringing them to $38,298. Their new money during the pact would add up to $5,679, and their October 2006 retroactive pay would be $1,498.
Employees making $50,000 before the pact would see their pay rate climb by $4,711 to $54,711. They would get $8,113 in new money during the agreement, including an October 2006 retroactive check of $2,141.

Who is covered, who’s not
Besides members at mayoral agencies, including the Dept. of Education, the agreement covers others at the Health and Hospitals Corp., cultural institutions, the New York City Housing Authority, the Off-Track Betting Corp. and New York City Transit.

The agreement does not cover agency fee payers, Fire Protection Inspectors and Associate FPIs, prevailing rate workers and employees at EMS, CUNY, OCA, DHCR, TBTA, SCA, NY Law School, the Institute of Ecosystems Studies, One Source and Renaissance/Charter School. They are not eligible to vote on the pact.

Pay and other contract dates may vary in some non-mayoral agencies, but the basic provisions of the agreement are the same.

Funding for union benefits
The new economic agreement will pump more than $40 million into the union’s welfare fund, which DC37 Research and Negotiations Director Dennis Sullivan described as the largest benefit funding increase ever won through a contract agreement.

Battered by the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs, the DC 37 Health and Security Plan has in recent years been forced to draw from its reserves to cover an annual gap of more than $40 million between its expenses and its income.

Under the new pact, on July 1 the city will provide the DC 37 Health and Security Fund with a continuing rate increase of $100 annually for each member and retiree — on top of the $1,540 it already contributes. The city will also make a one-time payment of over $20 million on Nov. 4.

The rate increase and lump sum payment add up to more than $40 million extra for the union welfare fund. “This influx of funds should stabilize our drug benefit for the duration of the contract by making the welfare fund more solvent,” said Local 983 President Mark Rosenthal, chair of the Health and Security Plan’s Board of Trustees.

Residency victory
DC 37 Treasurer and Local 1407 President Maf Misbah Uddin called easing the residency requirement a major victory for the union. “This will mean tremendous relief for our typical member with a salary of $30,000 who is struggling to get by with the high cost of housing in the city.”

The current requirement restricts most civilian employees to living within the five boroughs. Under the new contract, the city will join DC 37 in seeking legislation to permit DC 37 members to live in Nassau, Westchester, Suffolk, Orange, Rockland and Putnam counties.

Municipal employees will still have to pay their city income taxes.

The TransitChek program allows members to save hundreds of dollars a year by using the Transit Debit Card to get a tax break on their city subway and bus expenses. Now the city will extend the TransitChek program to allow municipal employees to use their debit card for additional transportation systems, including the Long Island Rail Road, MetroNorth Railroad, and Long Island MTA buses.

Salary Review Panel
In an important development, the economic agreement will provide the union with a forum to seek salary adjustments for specific job titles or occupational groups.

The contract would establish a Salary Review Panel to determine whether certain workers should be better compensated — including employees in revenue-producing positions and others whose duties have required substantial skill upgrading for work previously done by paid consultants. At the end of the contract, the city will provide an Additional Compensation Fund to help individual bargaining units address these issues.

In the past, the bargaining units have used such funds for salary differentials, annuities, uniform allowances and longevities.

Pensions, health: no changes
In an earlier negotiating session, the city made a major proposal for modifying the pensions of new employees. At the union’s insistence, the city backed off. Instead, both parties will address pension issues in the current labor-management committee.

Earlier in negotiations, the city sought to address health issues at the bargaining table, but later agreed to make these proposals to the Municipal Labor Committee, an umbrella group that negotiates on health benefits for the city employee unions.

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