Public Employee Press

State rent workers settle new contract

State rent regulation workers settled on a tentative contract Dec. 6, which calls for pay increases averaging 17 percent over four years.

Members of Rent Regulation Services Employees Local 1359 will vote on the pact at their general membership meeting Jan. 8 at Gertz Plaza in Queens.

The contract runs from April 2, 2007, to April 1, 2011. The agreement provides for a 3 percent wage increase retroactive to April 2, 2007, a 3 percent increase in April 2008, a 3 percent increase in April 2009 and a 4 percent increase in April 2010.

Huge downstate pay adjustment
Local 1359 President Ralph F. Carbone said a key achievement of the negotiations was a major increase — nearly 250 percent — in the annual location pay adjustment for downstate members. The adjustment will jump from $1,302 to $1,850 on April 1, 2008, and then to $3,026 on Oct. 1, 2008.

The state’s contribution to the health and benefits fund will increase from $726 to $770 in 2007, $800 in 2008, $849 in 2009 and $880 in 2010. Thanks to the increases, members will only experience minor increases in medical co-pays, with the office visit co-pay rising from $18 to $20 midway through the pact.

Other highlights include an increase in the five-year longevity from $850 to $1,250 and an increase in the 10-year longevity from $1,700 to $2,500. For workers at Grade 17 and below in the pay scale, the contract provides a credit of $450 this year for their health-care premium if they trade in three vacation days. This credit increases to $500 in 2010. The contract also improves short-term and long-term disability coverage.

Besides Carbone, the Local 1359 bargaining committee included Vice President Dennis Ifill, Treasurer Darryl Adams, Secretary Charmaine Hardaway and Executive Board member Mushtaq Ali. DC 37 staffers on the team were Assistant Director Michele M. Trester of the Research and Negotiations Dept., Assistant General Counsel Alan M. Brown of the Legal Dept. and Senior Director of Health Planning Willie Chang of the DC 37 Health and Security Plan.