Suburban Court Officers, Sgts. Get Pay Bump

By REUVEN BLAU

Veteran Senior Court Officers and Sergeants working outside the city will receive more than a little extra holiday cheer courtesy of the Office of Court Administration's decision to include those titles in the Senior Officer Series.

JOHN McKILLOP: His deal opened door.

On Dec. 27, all the state's Senior Court Officers and Court Officer Sergeants in those titles on Jan. 8, 2004 will receive a retroactive increase in lieu of their titles being placed higher on the pay scale as part of the court reclassification plan.

$5G Retro Payments

A group of the 220 officers based in Nassau and Suffolk counties will receive a $1,000 raise retroactive to Jan. 8, 2004, a $1,700 hike from Jan. 8, 2005, and a $2,350 boost effective Jan. 8, 2006.

Initially, OCA agreed to grant the differential only to veteran members of the Supreme Court Officers' Association as part of the contract negotiated by union President John McKillop in March. (That deal also provided 8.25 percent in raises and $1,600 in additional payments for the union's 1,433 members.)

An OCA official, however, maintained last week that the three other unions representing those same titles were also included from the outset. "It was the fair thing to do," said OCA spokeswoman Mai Yee.

PATRICK CRIBBIN: Expand reclassification.

That inclusion is notable, as management is traditionally loath to raise employee salaries outside of the collective-bargaining arena.

'Piggy-Backed SCOA'

Pat Cribbin, the president of the Court Officers' Benevolent Association of Nassau County (COBANC), said that his union "piggy-backed John McKillop." He added, "I think it's something that the Senior Court Officers deserve and we hope to work with the other job titles." COBANC represents approximately 930 state employees in 64 titles working in Nassau County.

Mr. Cribbin and the other unions representing court clerks, reporters, and attorneys have been trying to persuade OCA to broaden its reclassification plans. OCA has steadfastly maintained that reclassification is not a mandatory subject of bargaining and therefore not an issue that must be addressed at the bargaining table.

In general, broadbanding the court security titles has paved the way for better deployment of court officers by allowing OCA to shift them between court branches. It is expected to eventually save the state millions, but its implementation costs are unclear.

OCA has said that it has no further reclassification plans for the court security titles, but the agency has acknowledged that it is closely looking into boosting the pay grades for its Attorneys.

'We're Next'

"I don't have any definitive dates, but we've been told we're next," said Adrienne Williams, the president of the Court Attorneys' Association of the City of New York. "I think OCA is trying to do something before the end of the year." Ms. Williams represents 242 Attorneys who help judges' draft decisions.

The funds to place her members higher on the salary scale, she has noted, have already been allocated in this year's budget. "The reclassification for us was really never taken off the table; it was just postponed," she remarked, referring to the original plan which was delayed after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Under that plan, Attorneys with five years of experience would be upgraded from Judicial Grade 23 to 31, which pay $56,253 and $86,838, respectively.

Many attorneys are already at the higher pay grade, she noted. The new pay structure will likely be based on how much experience each attorney has in the court system, she added.

'A Long Time Coming'

Those changes will help bring her members' salaries closer to Law Secretaries, according to Ms. Williams. "It's been a long time coming, so I'm looking forward to it," she said. As for the SCOA senior officer differential, OCA officials have noted that their job duties have changed since the Court Officer title series was broadbanded. SCOA officers now help with on-the-job training of new Court Officers assigned to Supreme Court facilities. Before reclassification, only Senior Court Officers worked at those courts.

Thomas P. O'Neil, the president of the Suffolk County Court Employees' Association, said that including his 110 officers was a logical move. "It only makes sense if they are going to give it to one area that they give it to another area," he remarked during a Nov. 16 phone interview. "All the unions had some input into making sure that everybody got it."