Trying to Top DC 37
Municipal Coalition Demands 13% Hike

By HOWARD MEGDAL

The municipal union coalition that includes Teachers, city Teamsters and administrative workers is seeking pay raises totaling 13.55 percent over 32 months, four percent more than other civilian unions gained in deals reached during the summer.

BARBARA BOWEN: Must shift balance of power.

The coalition, according to a posting on Communication Workers of America Local 1180's Web site, asked for a 3-percent hike or $750 - whichever is greater - on the first day of the contract, a 5-percent increase on the first day of the seventh month, another five-percent increase on the first day of the 19th month, and a 0.34-percent raise on the last day of the 20th month. After a reporter who saw the demands called for elaboration, the posting was taken down.

Other Demands

The proposal also calls for a $100-per-member contribution to each union's welfare fund on both the first day of the first and 19th months of the contract, along with a one-time cash payment of $167.67. Another provision requires city support for legislation allowing coalition workers to live in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Orange, Rockland, and Putnam counties. The city's TransitChek program would also be expanded to cover Metro-North and the Long Island Railroad, and the city would provide a salary review process. Each of those improvements was agreed to, along with a 9.42-percent pay hike, as part of the District Council 37 contract that the Bloomberg administration has used as a civilian pattern.

ARTHUR CHELIOTES: Some logistical problems.

The coalition, made up of unions including the United Federation of Teachers, the Professional Staff Congress, CWA Local 1180 and 17 others, agreed to bargain collectively for six months in a decision announced June 23. Several unions which subsequently negotiated their own contracts have left the coalition.

Describing the meeting as "cordial," coalition co-chair and PSC President Barbara Bowen said she believed "progress was simply being in that room. It was the first time in many, many years that a coalition has sat down on one side of the table, and set out a unified position to the city. There was also progress that we got the city to talk to us. They had some reservations over doing so - and the city expressed them."

Hanley Noncommittal

Labor Commissioner James F. Hanley described the meeting as "a free-flowing exchange of ideas," but declined any other comment, citing his policy of refusing to speak about ongoing negotiations.

CWA 1180's President Arthur Cheliotes also described the meeting as a success in the Web posting, but noted that that "there are some technical problems with the coalition given that the United Federation of Teachers is covered under PERB [the Public Employment Relations Board] and the Professional Staff Congress also bargains with the state. However, our demands were accepted as if they came from each unit, and any agreement will be signed by individual units."

Ms. Bowen also addressed the differing contract goals of the coalition members, whose contracts end at different times. She said that "the PSC has an interest in making the city unions a better deal for next time. We bargain in a slightly different arena, but it impacts our arena."

Reiterating the belief that the existence of a coalition strengthened DC 37's bargaining position before its deal was reached in mid-July, the PSC leader said that she "can certainly determine that the presence of a coalition has changed the landscape of bargaining for the city. It can only strengthen us to be together. I think the real potential of a coalition lies in its possibility of shifting the balance of power. That may mean a long-term process."

She said that continuing the coalition beyond the six-month agreement period had already been discussed, and had widespread support.

UFT leader Randi Weingarten said that more meetings had been scheduled between the city and coalition co-chairs, who include her, Ms. Bowen, Mr. Cheliotes, Teamsters Local 237 President Carl Haynes, and Harry Nespoli, president of Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association Local 831. She described herself as "cautiously optimistic."