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     Current Issue Highlights Highlights Archive             Get to know your Business Agent today!  Find out how the union makes a difference on the job. |
Newsline: July 2000 LOCAL'S FIRST MEETING WITH HA IS PROMISING; TOUGH FIGHT EXPECTED Although both sides were amiable and agreed to cooperate, it became clear very early in the first meeting between Local 237 negotiators and representatives of the Housing Authority that obtaining a satisfactory new contract was going to take some hard bargaining. The HA representatives came to Local 237 headquarters in Manhattan June 22 to show their willingness to cooperate, but then handed to President Carl Haynes and other delegates a list of demands that began with several already opposed by the union. The HA called for a five year contract, a work week that would ignore weekend overtime pay, elimination of summer hours and, as demanded by the Mayor, "merit" increases based on an employee's performance and productivity. The Authority representatives presented a total of 18 demands, many of which seemed to be designed to infuriate the union negotiators. One said, "assignment to any position, in any title, to and at any location, shall be made in the sole discretion and determination of the Authority." Another called for lateness in excess of five minutes to be charged to annual leave for the full period of such lateness on a minute-for-minute basis. The Authority also wants employees to pay for any equipment issued by the HA which may be lost, damaged or destroyed, changes in the disciplinary process "to establish more effective discipline," and no monetary award in any grievance concerning assignment of an employee to substantially different duties prior to the filing of a Step 1 grievance Other demands concerned health, pension and welfare, overtime calculated only on actual time worked, and transfers, movements and assignments. The HA spokesman, apparently recognizing the incendiary nature of some of these demands, insisted the proposals were "not intended to be a provocation" but were simply intended to provide some basis for negotiations. "Negotiations must be a two-way street," he contended. "We hope you'll work with us. It's not going to be easy." Prior to the submission of the HA demands, President Haynes had presented the Authority negotiators with union demands unique to members who work in the city's housing developments. Among these were payment of the overtime rate after a 35-hour work week for those in the 35-hour category, weekly pay checks, premium pay for Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and days off in lieu of holiday for all titles, minimum guaranteed pay for work scheduled on normal days off which is subsequently canceled, and revision of Local hearing and appeal processes. Haynes agreed that the union would cooperate with the HA representatives in the effort to hammer out as new contract, but he let them now right from the start that they were in for some tough negotiations. "In the last negotiations, you took a truck full of stuff away from us," he told them. "We expect you to bring it back." Haynes told the HA negotiators that they had heard more from him "in the past three weeks than you've heard in the past five years." But he warned them this was only the beginning. "I intend to be in your face," the Local president asserted. "You're always broke and I'm always asking for something." Haynes charged that the HA's failure to hire sufficient staff had forced many employees to work in duties not covered by their titles, doing jobs that would be done by other employees -- if the HA would hire enough people. Haynes noted that the HA had cut its work force by 10 percent and delayed filling vacancies. This has resulted, he contended, in unsanitary and unsafe conditions in many work sites in the housing developments. He pointed out that the failure of the HA to hire provisional employees for the summer, as they have done for years in the past, has led to building personnel being forced to work on the development grounds, cutting grass and pulling weeds ' duties not covered by their titles. The meeting adjourned without setting any future date, both sides asserting that they had to have time to study each other's demands so as to establish some basis for discussion. |
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