Claim Bad-Faith Tactics: Pact Delays Anger L.I. Inmate Staffs

Claim Bad-Faith Tactics
Pact Delays Anger L.I. Inmate Staffs

By REUVEN BLAU

The unions representing Correction Officers in Nassau County and Probation Officers in Suffolk County last week charged that the county executives in their regions have failed to negotiate new contracts in good faith.

BRIAN SULLIVAN: Says Suozzi's distracted. Both the Nassau County Sheriff Officers' Association and the Suffolk County Probation Officers' Association have petitioned the Public Employment Relations Board to declare an impasse in their contract talks. The unions, which have been working under expired deals for several years, do not have the right to binding arbitration.

Counties Hold to Pattern

Labor officials from the counties emphatically denied that they have bargained in bad faith, asserting that the unions need to abide by the wage pattern set by other labor organizations this round of bargaining. They also contend that the unions need to make work-rule concessions to bring down the counties' rising costs.

In Nassau, the dispute has been complicated by County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi's campaign for Governor in the Democratic primary against frontrunner Eliot Spitzer. "He's not paying attention," contended Brian Sullivan, the union's first vice president, referring to Mr. Suozzi. "He's running the county from his cell phone."

Dan McCray, Nassau's Director of Labor Relations, replied, "It is patently untrue. We are willing and eager to address the union's issues, but they have to be able to address the county's needs." The contract dispute seemed to be resolved last August, when both sides announced a tentative six-year agreement that included a provision to end overtime abuse at the Nassau County Correctional Center.

TEEING OFF: Union officials representing Nassau County Correction Officers and Suffolk County Probation Officers rallied for new contracts during a golf fundraiser for Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy earlier this month. Along with their inflatable little friend, pictured from left are: Don Grauer, Dan Delvalle, Andrea Foran, John Duer, and Rocco Turso. A week before the proposed deal was announced, it was revealed that one Correction Officer earned $224,903 over the previous year with the help of 1,040 hours of overtime. Plus, the average officer earns $100,000 annually by supplementing his or her salary working overtime. "Today's announcement makes clear two simple facts: this was a contract this administration inherited. And this won't happen again," Mr. Suozzi told reporters last summer.

The tentative deal provided a 20-percent raise over six years, starting with a 2.5 percent hike in 2005 and a 3.5 percent boost for each of the next five years, as well as a six-month wage freeze in 2008.

But the accord was rejected by the State Legislature after it was revealed that Nassau's other unions had the ability to demand similar benefits under their "me-too" clauses. Changing all those deals could have cost the state an additional $140 million.

"Since then we went back to the negotiating table and have gone absolutely nowhere," Mr. Sullivan contended. The union represents 1,100 Nassau County Correction Officers.

Can't Arbitrate

PERB appointed a mediator, Martin F. Scheinman, who issued recommendations that both sides are currently haggling over. "It's a big tail-chasing endeavor," Mr. Sullivan argued.

Further complicating matters is the Legislature's decision last week not to act on a bill that would have given Nassau staffers the right to binding arbitration. Mr. Suozzi lobbied against the measure, arguing that such a bill would eventually force the county to raise residents' taxes in order to fund subsequent arbitration awards.

THOMAS R. SUOZZI: Wants to reduce jail OT. The original deal included what Mr. Suozzi called "historic" provisions that would have helped the county reduce its overtime costs. Under that accord, there would have been a ceiling to what an individual officer could earn so that the total amount of overtime would never exceed the base pay for the top officer in that rank. In addition, the overtime rate, which is equal to 1.74 times base pay for each hour of overtime worked, would gradually be reduced to time-and-a-half, or 1.5 times base pay, by the year 2010. That change was expected to save the county $17.6 million during the contract.

The agreement also limited the amount of overtime that could be worked by an employee in any given month to no more than 152 hours, in order to protect the safety and welfare of the officers.

'Just Pushing Us Off'

But since the deal was rejected in Albany, union officials contend that Mr. Suozzi and his top aides have delayed renegotiating a new accord. "We have tons of problems with his bands of merry men who we believe are just pushing us off," Mr. Sullivan charged.

County officials maintained that they were open to reworking the agreement, but that the union has been ignoring the "me-too" clause problem. They also pointed out that labor strife is the last thing Mr. Suozzi wants to deal with as he continues his long-shot bid for Governor.

The union charged that after it publicly spoke out against Mr. Suozzi, Sheriff Edward Reilly retaliated against the officers by closing certain sections of the prison, creating dangerous overcrowding in certain areas.

The county acknowledged that changes were made in the jail, but asserted that they occurred based on inmate headcount in an attempt to reduce officer overtime. "It's a sign of efficient management," a county official argued. "It's all driven by the numbers. It allows them to do maintenance in the area temporarily closed."

Angered by those work changes and the contract situation, the union has vowed to launch a statewide campaign against Mr. Suozzi.

2-1/2-Year Wait in Suffolk

The Suffolk County Probation Officers find themselves in a similar quagmire. The union, which represents 290 officers, has worked under an expired contract since Dec. 31, 2003.

"It's our feeling that the county has not been negotiating in good faith," asserted union President Donald Grauer. "Our only recourse is fact-finding."

Jeffery L. Tempera, County Executive Steve Levy's top negotiator, countered that the union was simply rejecting the pattern established last May by the region's civilian union, the Association of Municipal Employees. "We've offered them the same exact agreement," he said in a June 22 phone interview. "They feel they deserve more."

That five-year deal included a $1,925 pensionable bonus the first year, 3-percent increases for the following three years, and a 3.25-percent raise the last year of the award. The union has scoffed at that offer, arguing that it should be given the pattern set by the Suffolk police union, which provided a raise in the first year.

"They seem to disagree where they should be in that pattern," Mr. Tempera said.

PERB has just-appointed a fact-finding panel to examine the dispute and issue a non-binding recommendation. But that process, everyone agrees, could take a while.

Campaign Against Levy

In the meantime, the union plans to continue monthly rallies at events Mr. Levy and his top aides attend. "We are growing impatient and we've now started to be a bit more vocal," Mr. Grauer said. "We want to send the message out to the community that Steve Levy is no friend of labor."

Mr. Tempera, however, called that charge "disingenuous," noting that the county has already negotiated new contracts with the majority of the bargaining units in the region. "To accuse the county of bad-faith bargaining is not even close to the facts," he asserted.

The union even paid $1,800 for an airplane to fly over a golf outing Mr. Levy attended earlier this month with a banner charging that he is bad for labor. The union has also bought button-down shirts, pins, and bumper stickers emblazoned with a similar message for all its members to display. "It's money well spent," Mr. Grauer commented.

Union members from both counties have banded together at the rallies, Mr. Grauer noted. "The camaraderie among us is the highest it's ever been," he said. "The bad in some people brings out the best in others."