Mayor Orders 4.15% Raises For Managers

Mayor Orders 4.15% Raises For Managers;

By RICHARD STEIER

Mayor Bloomberg has given city managers an extra 1-percent raise retroactive to July 1, 2004, and granted them a 3.15-percent pay increase effective July 1, 2005.

MAYOR BLOOMBERG: Takes care of managers The second increase is being provided in an exceptionally speedy manner, noted Managerial Employees' Association President Stephen M. Ferrer. Where managers have complained during past mayoral administrations about not receiving pay hikes until long after a civilian-employee wage pattern was established by District Council 37, in this case they were awarded the raise before the largest municipal union even negotiated an increase for the current fiscal year.

'Shows He Values Us'

"Once again, the Mayor has shown by his actions that he values the contributions of career managers who play a critical role in the day-to-day operations of city government," Mr. Ferrer said in a statement.

A DC 37 spokeswoman declined comment on the change in timing and what it meant for the union's contract talks.

Other officials said that it underscored the point Mr. Bloomberg made when he settled a contract with the United Federation of Teachers in early October that was more than a year longer in duration than the current DC 37 pact. The UFT deal's final-year raise totaled 3.25 percent, but .10 of that was funded by a 12-day extension of the pact. Mr. Bloomberg said it represented an extension of the bargaining pattern he had set with DC 37 and demonstrated it with subsequent wage deals covering Sanitation Workers, Firefighters and Detectives that all featured a 3.15-percent hike in the final year.

STEPHEN M. FERRER: Speed thrills.

Should Apply to OJs

Traditionally Mayors have given the same raises to Original Jurisdiction employees - who are not eligible for collective bargaining but are not managers - as to their managerial corps, and that is expected to be the case this time as well.

A memorandum from Deputy Commissioner of City wide Administrative Services Joseph A. DeMarco to city personnel officers states that the added 1-percent hike, which is consistent with a raise given to DC 37 members this summer on top of an earlier 2-percent boost the union had negotiated for the period, will be implemented in Dec. 2 paychecks. The 3.15-percent raise will first show up in the checks of Dec. 16.

Those managers who had that status prior to June 30, 2004 will be entitled to back pay for the two raises for the entire period. Those who became managers after that time will receive back pay for the time actually served in their jobs, "at the discretion of the Agency Head," according to the Mayor's Personnel Order that was issued Nov. 14.

Adjust Pay Scale

The salary scale for those under the city's Management Pay Plan has been adjusted to reflect the two raises. The minimum salary at the entry level is now $42,974, although virtually all managers start at a higher wage than that, and the maximum for those at Level VIII on the pay plan is now $150,148.

The advocacy group's executive director, Sandra Taylor Griffin, thanked the Mayor for recognizing the evidence of improved managerial productivity presented by the MEA.

Mr. Ferrer said that he intended to continue pressing top city labor relations officials to equalize the terminal leave rights of managers with those enjoyed by unionized workers.

He noted that managers currently receive a day's pay for every three days of accrued sick leave when they retire, and must have at least 60 days of accrued leave to collect any money. Nonmanagerial employees, he pointed out, can collect a day's pay for every two days of unused leave at retirement without regard to how many accrued sick days they have.