Public Employee Press

Wage talks restart Sept. 15
“The cost of living is rising, taxes are higher, and fares are up. People need relief,” says Lillian Roberts.

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

Now that the budget picture is showing signs of improving, DC 37 is pushing the city to accelerate negotiations for a new economic agreement.

“I think all parties are eager to get this round of bargaining back on track,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts.

“Earlier this year, the negotiations couldn’t proceed because of the layoff situation and the enormous challenge the city faced in dealing with its $6 billion budget gap,” Ms. Roberts said. “But with the budget resolved and the expiration of the contracts of most municipal unions, there is a lot of pressure out there to return to the bargaining table in earnest.”

DC 37 and the city have set a bargaining session for Sept. 15. The teachers and police unions also are scheduled to meet with the city this month.

Ms. Roberts told the DC 37 Executive Board on Aug. 13 that planning has begun for a mass rally on Oct. 29 to pressure the city to agree to a new contract. “Our members haven’t had a raise for more than a year now. They deserve a fair and reasonable pay increase for what they have done to help the city continue delivering needed services to the public while coping with budget cuts and downsizing,” Ms. Roberts said.

Time for a raise
“The cost of living is going up, taxes have increased and fares are up. People need relief,” she said. In January, DC 37 established a Stewards Mobilization Action Committee, which helped mobilize 30,000 members for the April protest against budget cuts and layoffs. SMAC and local leaders will work to build the Oct. 29 demonstration.

The union’s 27-month economic agreement expired June 30, 2002, though its terms remain in effect as bargaining proceeds. The contract affects more than 100,000 DC 37 members.

The DC 37 Negotiating Committee, made up of the council’s 56 local presidents, will caucus before the Sept. 15 session to hammer out bargaining priorities and strategy. Last year, DC 37 put together its demands through an exhaustive process that involved outreach to rank-and-file members by local unions and research and discussion by the Negotiating Committee.

Wages, benefits, job security
The committee assigned subcommittees to study such topics as benefits and economic and retirement issues. In addition to job security and a fair wage increase, the union’s demands include preserving health insurance, increasing city contributions to union welfare funds, an employer match for employee contributions to the 401(k) plan, employer-provided Transit-Cheks, a child-care benefit and greater protections for provisional employees.

As preparations get under way for bargaining to restart, DC 37 Director of Research and Negotiations Dennis Sullivan said the union faces “a very complicated bargaining situation.” “While the union has a very legitimate economic agenda, the mayor still insists that any wage increases must be funded through productivity improvements,” Mr. Sullivan said.

Though fiscal monitors say the city will face a deficit of $2 billion in fiscal year 2005, they call the shortfall manageable and acknowledge that the outlook has improved significantly.

“The city has now tackled its biggest deficit in a generation, and that improves the bargaining climate. But there are still a number of factors that create uncertainty,” said Mr. Sullivan.

Pataki disputes savings plan
An immediate concern is the dispute between Gov. George E. Pataki and Mr. Bloomberg over the state Legislature’s decision that the state would assume the city’s $2.5 billion outstanding debt from the fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s. The Legislature’s plan would save the city $500 million a year. But if Mr. Pataki succeeds in blocking the shift of the debt obligation to the state, his action will create an unanticipated hole in the current city budget. The issue was before the courts as PEP went to press.