In an effort to get an early start on bargaining for new contracts with the city and Housing Authority, Local 237 President Carl Haynes sent letters last month requesting that negotiations commence to seek new “fair and equitable” agreements for Local 237 members.

In letters to James Hanley, commissioner of the Office of Labor Relations, and Tino Hernandez, chairman of the Housing Authority, Haynes asked that they set a date to start the bargaining process.

“I firmly believe that the parties can, and will, agree upon a fair and equitable agreement for our members,” Haynes told them.

Haynes said that member committees from both the Citywide and Housing Divisions have been busy drawing up items that they would like to see in any future contracts, some of which were not settled when the last contracts were negotiated.

“Our members have been working long and hard, continuing to provide vital services to the city and its residents despite buyouts and layoffs,” Haynes noted. “The city fathers don’t seem — or want — to understand that for each person not replaced, someone else has to pick up the slack.”

He contended that city officials demand increases in productivity without ever conceding that municipal employees have had their workloads increased because of early retirement incentives and layoffs.

“Mayor Bloomberg is insisting that any wage increases must be paid for by increased productivity, but he ignores how many additional tasks each city worker must do now to make up for workers who have not been replaced,” he said.

Haynes said that any new contracts should include wage increases that take into consideration current and projected rates of inflation, and that would be retroactive to the end of the last contracts.

The new contracts also must contain no layoff clauses, he insisted.