Current Issue Highlights      Highlights Archive   Get to know your Business   Agent today!   Find out how the union   makes a difference on   the job.	Newsline: May 2000 Local Gets City Demands; Rejects Idea of Merit Raises Local 237 received a list of proposals from James Hanley, the city's Commissioner of Labor Relations, at the union's second bargaining session for a new contract April 25, and union representatives immediately rejected outright the Mayor's most recent gambit: merit increases. Secretary-Treasurer Nick Mancuso, who is the chief negotiator for Local 237, told the city's representatives that there is no way the union will entertain in any way any suggestion of merit pay increases. "The majority of our members are working for minimum pay in their titles and there is no way that the union will ever consider merit increases," Mancuso told the city bargainers in an overcrowded conference room at Hanley's offices at 40 Rector St., Manhattan. "It was their many sacrifices and dedication that enabled the city to realize the $2.8 billion surplus it is currently enjoying, and they deserve their share in the city's good fortune." Other proposals submitted by the city included: a five year contract; reduction in the number of hours during which civilian employees can be eligible for night shift differentials; amending overtime provisions to time actually worked standard used by the Fair Labor Standards Act by excluding paid leave and holidays when calculating eligibility for overtime in excess of 40 hours a week; employees may be temporarily assigned on an emergency basis to related or higher level duties not specifically set forth in their job description without additional compensation; health insurance employee co-pay. All active employees under age 65 will pay 10 percent for individual coverage and 20 percent for family coverage of the HIP HMO rate; pay 50 percent of daily rate for sick leave for the first three days per year; reduce all thresholds of Annual Leave by three days; administrative expenses incurred by union welfare funds shall not exceed 7.5 percent of the annual contributions; eliminate Increased Take Home Pay. In all, there were 22 items put forward by the city, including some apparently aimed particularly at reducing the union's role and responsibility to its members. Among these were proposals to increase administrative fees for dues deduction and other voluntary check-off items, elimination of city paid time for joint labor/management and union training programs, and reducing paid release time by 50 percent. In addition to rejecting the proposal for merit pay raises, the union negotiators also told Hanley that they remain opposed meeting in the crowded confines of his offices to negotiate. They pointed out that many of the union's members are forced to sit in different rooms while contract proposals are discussed. Basil Patterson, attorney for the union, asserted that in all the years he has been involved in negotiating with the city, union representatives were never subjected to the conditions imposed on them by the Giuliani Administration. Mancuso further noted that they had endured the crowded conditions at the OLR offices twice, but expected that any future negotiations be carried out at the Local's headquarters on West 14th St., where there would be sufficient room for all to take part. At the conclusion of the negotiating meeting, Mancuso told the union members during a caucus that, "This administration has a track record of looking to intimidate and play hardball with various groups in the city. We're going to make our position quite clear to them that we're not going to accept or tolerate these tactics. And whatever ground rules the city wants to play, we're certainly in the game, and we're in it to win. If we have to wait nine months, or we have to wait 19 months, we are going to get a contract that's fair and acceptable to our members." In an interview with a television reporter outside Hanley's office, the union official said, "The Mayor seems to think that he's the only one that has generated the city we have today. He fails to take into account what the employees of the city have contributed to the economic and social growth we know. "So we are serious about a fair and satisfactory contract for our members, and we are going to bargain as we bargained for the last 30 years. We are not accepting any merit increases. We want all our members to receive a raise which they're entitled to. We've sacrificed not only the last five years, but probably the last eight years, taking three and one half years with no increases. "Now the city has $2-billion of surplus. We are not making a raid on the treasury, but we want our fair share of that surplus because it was made possible through our labor, our hard work and sacrifices."
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