City Rebuffs PBA-Type Deal

Det. Union's Pay Case Goes Cold

By REUVEN BLAU

The Detective Investigators' Association charged last week that the city Office of Labor Relations is failing to comply with a new law classifying its members as uniformed workers.

JOHN FLEMING: Members feel disrespected.

According to the DIA, city negotiators have insisted that the union agree to the same financial terms and supplemental benefits negotiated by District Council 37 and other civilian unions.

Path to Better Contract?

The union filed a lawsuit in May 2005 charging that OLR officials were ignoring the 1989 state legislation granting its members uniformed status. The city settled the litigation last summer after agreeing to stipulate that it would adhere to the classification.

"We thought that would pave the way for us to actually negotiate a uniformed contract, which accurately reflects what my members do," DIA President John Fleming said during an Aug. 10 phone interview.

But according to Mr. Fleming, talks between the city and the DIA have stalled, despite four negotiation sessions with mediator Susan Panepento, who was appointed by the Public Employment Relations Board after an impasse was declared.

"The members are furious," Mr. Fleming asserted, "because they believe that we have the same bargaining rights as other uniformed unions."

The DIA represents 300 Investigators who are duly appointed Police Officers who work for the city District Attorney's Offices and the Special Narcotics Prosecutor's Office. Roughly 70 percent of its members are retired Detectives, and they average 20 years of investigatory experience. The DIA contract expired April 13, 2003. Labor Commissioner James F. Hanley declined to comment, citing the ongoing negotiations.

'Same Deal As for NYPD'

Mr. Fleming said the DIA has offered to work an additional half-hour each day in order to finance the 4.24 percent in savings that was generated by the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association arbitration award last summer in return for two 5-percent raises for incumbent Police Officers.

"All we've asked for is the four-year deal offered to Detectives in the Police Department and other unions," he remarked. "We are willing to work longer hours and to reduce the starting salary."

The Detectives' Endowment Association's 49-month deal provided members with 17-percent raises funded in part by a cut in pay for newly promoted officers.

The last contract the DIA negotiated was similar to the previous PBA arbitration award, but the Investigators' agreement stretched out that accord for an additional three months, reducing the overall value of the deal.

"The city can't have it both ways," Mr. Fleming contended. "If pattern bargaining exists for every other uniformed union, than it must exist for us as well."

An Ongoing Battle

Uniformed status has long been a contentious issue for the city's various lawenforcement unions. In March 2005, the City Council passed a bill granting that status to Traffic Enforcement Agents, School Safety Agents, and several other titles.

The Bloomberg administration, however, is opposing that bill and a similar measure granting uniformed classification to Emergency Medical Technicians and Fire Alarm Dispatchers. The city has sued to block both those amendments to the Administrative Code.

The unions believe that uniformed status will enable them to negotiate for specific needs such as holiday pay, equipment allowance, and overtime salary adjustments.