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Likes Lack of
Givebacks
Coalition Head: We Helped DC 37
Deal
By HOWARD MEGDAL
A leader
of the city's municipal labor coalition said that increased pressure on the city
by the formation of the group was responsible for District Council 37's contract
terms, which were far more favorable than the union's 2004 deal.
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| RANDI
WEINGARTEN: Gave DC 37 leverage.
| | "Obviously, the
coalition played a role in the background by enhancing DC 37's leverage,"
coalition co-chair and United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten
said in a July 13 interview. "The rumors from before are far different from what
they were able to negotiate. That's a good thing. They were able to move the
city substantially."
A Welcome Contrast
If the deal is ratified, DC 37 members would receive a 9.42-percent raise
over 32 months, a $40 million contribution to the union's Health and Security
Fund, the right to live in six counties outside of the city, and just as
important to many, no givebacks on issues such as pensions or starting salaries.
That contrasts with the three-year contract negotiated in April 2004, which
gave members just a six-percent raise and saddled those hired after June 30 of
that year with fewer leave days, lower differential pay and a 15-percent cut in
salary for their first two years on the job.
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| ARTHUR
CHELIOTES: 'Terms won't bind us.'
| | Professional
Staff Congress President Barbara Bowen echoed Ms. Weingarten in crediting the
coalition with providing DC 37 proxy strength.
"It's clear that the formation of a city-wide labor coalition has changed the
climate for bargaining," she said in a July 14 interview. "The coalition's
potential to shift the balance of power between the unions and the city has
already meant that the premise of this round will not be concessions."
Deny Pattern Is Set
Communications Workers of America Local 1180 President and coalition member
Arthur Cheliotes, who said "given the cost of living in this city, expectations
were pretty high for this deal," argued that while the agreement "establishes a
standard of what the city will agree to," the terms will not hamstring the
coalition.
"I think that if this meets the needs of DC 37, that's well and good," he
said in a July 14 interview. "I don't buy the city's argument that it is a
pattern. You need a sequence of events to have a pattern."
He said that he was not surprised by the lack of union concessions in the
deal. "Reaction to givebacks was clear. No one is in the mood for givebacks,
that's for sure. The city's in excellent financial condition."
Ms. Weingarten said that the absence of pension and salary cuts represents a
shift in thinking by City Hall.
'No Blood From a Stone'
"That there were no givebacks was very important," she said. "This is a deal
where it appears that the administration has finally understood that you can't
take blood from a stone. The era of so-called productivity in exchange for any
kind of increase needs to be over. We already work extraordinarily hard. There's
a point of no return - people need their own time, their sick days, their
vacation days."
A spokesman for the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, which is not part of
the municipal labor coalition, declined to comment, saying "we are still looking
at it - we're at a critical stage." The city filed for the declaration of a
contract impasse with the PBA earlier this month.
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