Under Deal With Hevesi

SCOA Members Get Pay Raises Oct. 4

By REUVEN BLAU

Members of the Supreme Court Officers' Association will receive the 8.25-percent retroactive raises the union negotiated in March in their Oct. 4 paychecks, the State Comptroller's Office announced last week.

JOHN McKILLOP: Raises finally on way.

The move was disclosed at an Aug. 8 meeting between Executive Deputy Comptroller Diana Ritter and SCOA President John McKillop after he charged a week earlier that Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi wasn't doing enough to expedite the payments.

Sees Good Faith Now

"After having this meeting, I'm convinced that the Comptroller is working hard to resolve our contract issues as well as the others awaiting payment," Mr. McKillop said minutes after the conference. The union representing state Correctional Officers has also been waiting for the Comptroller's Office to pay the 11-percent retroactive raises its members were awarded in March. Mr. Hevesi announced Aug. 4 that the approximately 23,000 officers will receive their complete payments in their Oct. 26 paychecks.

Mr. Hevesi called the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association arbitration award an "extremely complicated" contract that required payroll staff to determine which portion of salary represents base pay and which constitutes longevity.

ALAN HEVESI: Questions NYSCOPBA leadership.

According to Mr. McKillop, the geographic pay increase the Office of Court Administration agreed to for his members assigned to the downstate region will also be included in the Oct. 4 paychecks. "The dates are carved in stone," he said. "It just clears up any confusion."

The SCOA represents 1,495 Senior Court Officers, Court Officers, and Sergeants who work at state courts in the city and several upstate counties.

Bad Aspects Already In

The unions were particularly angered that the state already implemented other, less-beneficial aspects of their contracts such as the increased co-payments for specific health insurance services.

NYSCOPBA President Larry Flanagan had urged his members to complain to the Comptroller about the holdup. "Due to the numerous phone calls, e-mails and letters received by the Comptroller's Office, they have finally released the pay dates NYSCOPBA requested back in June 2006," Mr. Flanagan said in a letter to members.

Mr. Hevesi's memo to officers detailing the payment schedule blamed NYSCOPBA for the delay. "When your union's leaders negotiated your contract, they made it very, very complicated," contended Thomas Sanzillo, the First Deputy Comptroller. "Then, rather than work with us, your leaders went out and gave lots of bad information."

Mr. Flanagan maintained that the union would continue to accurately inform its members "whether the Comptroller approves of it or not."

Mr. Hevesi has hired extra 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 for NYSCOPBA members.

Takes Shot At Union

"They have worked very hard to get this done," the Comptroller's letter to NYSCOPBA members asserted. "They have always been professional. The same is not true for your union leaders."

NYSCOPBA cancelled an informational picket Aug. 10 in Albany. The union has filed a suit demanding that the state pay interest on the retroactive raises. The SCOA, Mr. McKillop said, is considering taking similar legal action.