Payments Delayed
NYSCOPBA Seeks Interest on Award

By REUVEN BLAU

The union representing state Correctional Officers has filed a suit demanding that the state pay interest on the 11-percent retroactive raises awarded by an arbitration panel in March.

LARRY FLANAGAN: Keeping the pressure on.

The State Comptroller's Office has struggled to calculate the exact payments because the "extremely complicated" award requires payroll staff to determine which portion of salary represents base pay and which stands for longevity.

Hevesi's Offer

As a result, the approximately 23,000 members of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association have not yet received their complete raises.

The delay has angered NYSCOPBA officials, who have pushed State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi to expedite the process, to no avail.

In an unusual move, Mr. Hevesi agreed to make an advanced partial payment on Aug. 31 of as much as $7,500 to the officers.

But the union contends that is not enough, noting that the state has already implemented other aspects of the award, such as the increased co-payments for specific health insurance services.

The NYSCOPBA petition, which was filed in Albany Supreme Court, also pointed out that Governor Pataki already signed legislation necessary to appropriate the money in June.

David Neustadt, a spokesman for the Comptroller, maintained the suit would not play a role in the payment procedure. "It doesn't affect us at all," he asserted during a July 26 phone interview. "We are pushing this through as quickly as we possibly can, but there are limits." He noted that the calculations affect all officers' pay records and retirement estimates. "We can't compromise that information," he said. "That's important for them too."

Hevesi Adds Staff

To help speed the process, Mr. Hevesi has hired additional employees and approved overtime to help his staff properly calculate base pay as well as increases in uniform allowance, longevity payments, and a security law-enforcement differential (SLED) for NYSCOPBA members.

Over the past three years, many officers have experienced several changes in their salaries due to promotions, performance advances, transfers in and out of the bargaining unit, and location adjustments. Those modifications must all be carefully calculated, Mr. Neustadt noted.

The Comptroller's Office has a complete fact sheet detailing the advanced payment and other related issues on its Web site: www.osc.state.ny.us .

Web Post Confusion

The union has been updating its members regarding the situation with daily posts on its Web site. But a brief July 24 message created some confusion. That post stated that the Comptroller's Office "was served with a petition from the state's Attorney General's Office seeking interest on [the] arbitration award."

NYSCOPBA spokesman Dennis Fitzpatrick and a subsequent post explained that the AG's Office represents the Comptroller in the litigation.

Under the unanimous three-person arbitration award, which runs through March 31, 2007, officers receive a 2.25-percent hike retroactive to April 1, 2003, and a 2.75 percent raise retroactive to April 1, 2004. Officers will also receive a 3-percent raise retroactive to April 1, 2005, and another 3-percent hike April 1, 2006.

Other Gains

On the last day of the contract, the uniformed allowance will be rolled into base pay and increased to $1,075. Also, the SLED fund will be boosted to $1,550 at the end of the deal. According to NYSCOPBA President Larry Flanagan, Mr. Hevesi initially said it could take until April 2007 for members to be fully paid. "We told the Comptroller's staff that this news was simply unacceptable and that we could not, in good conscience, endorse such a schedule to the membership," Mr. Flanagan said.

NYSCOPBA members have not gotten a raise since April 2003. The award was the first time the union moved to have its contract decided by a Public Employment Relations Board panel.