COs' New 'Inconvenience'
Accuse Hevesi Of Payroll Retaliation

By REUVEN BLAU

While embattled State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi may have obtained a brief reprieve after his surprisingly comfortable re-election win, the union representing state Correctional Officers is once again charging that he has failed to pay its members the complete raises they were awarded in April.

ALAN G. HEVESI: No-payback the best revenge?

The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association last week contended that Mr. Hevesi has delayed paying "inconvenience pay" to officers who work evening and night shifts.

'Serious Money Involved'

Based on the arbitration decision, many of the union's 23,000 members are entitled to an hourly inconvenience pay, which has added up to several thousand dollars for individuals working those tours. "It's a substantial amount of money," asserted NYSCOPBA President Larry Flanagan during a Nov. 15 phone interview.

Mr. Hevesi's office has struggled to calculate the exact payments of the overall 11-percent retroactive raises because the "extremely complicated" award requires payroll staff to determine which portion of salary represents base pay and which is tied to longevity. As a result, many NYSCOPBA officers have still not received their complete raises.

LARRY FLANAGAN: Feud with Hevesi intensifies.

Mr. Flanagan charged that the latest hitch is politically motivated. According to the union president, the Comptroller's Office started ignoring his calls after he instructed officers to vote against Mr. Hevesi in the Nov. 7 election. "It's very disheartening to think that somebody who is supposed to be at a professional level would stoop to that level," Mr. Flanagan said.

A Comptroller's Office official said the Department of Correctional Services has to review each individual timesheet, which has caused the latest delay. "It's information that DOCS has, not the Comptroller's Office," remarked Jeffrey Gordon. "And this will take a very long time."

Night Shift Bonus

Under the NYSCOPBA arbitration decision, effective April 1, 2006 officers who work the evening and night shifts are entitled to receive an hourly inconvenience pay. Officers on the evening shift are due to get an additional $1 per hour and employees on the night shift are set to receive 50 cents extra for every hour worked. Additionally, officers on leave due to an occupational injury or illness will continue to receive inconvenience pay as long as they are on the payroll. In an Aug. 4 letter to officers, Mr. Hevesi detailed the salary schedule and promised to complete the inconvenience pay adjustments "beginning in September." Mr. Hevesi's memo also 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."

Members Angry

Mr. Flanagan blasted that letter, and he noted that the union has been receiving angry calls and e-mails from officers complaining about the situation. "Unfortunately, with a lack of communication from the Comptroller's Office, it's hard to relay any factual information," he added.

Mr. Hevesi has turned to the DOCS and the Governor's Office of Employee Relations to help calculate the payments. Those state agencies had a meeting concerning the issue last week.

NYSCOPBA has already filed a suit demanding that the state pay interest on the retroactive raises. The suit pointed out that Governor Pataki signed legislation necessary to appropriate the money in June.

The confusion apparently created a backlog, and the Supreme Court Officers' Association also charged in August that the State Comptroller's Office was failing to pay its members the 8.25-percent retroactive raises the union negotiated in March.

SCOA President John McKillop said last week that his members should expect to receive the remainder of the money that they are owed by Dec. 27.

Further complicating the matter was the Office of Court Administration's recent decision to pay all the uniformed court unions a similar bonus to what the SCOA negotiated, according to Mr. McKillop.

A Makeup Raise

The SCOA contract, which was overwhelmingly ratified by union members, includes a retroactive "senior officer series differential." That bonus gives incumbent officers additional pay increases in lieu of placing those titles higher on the pay scale as part of the court reclassification plan. "I don't begrudge them giving them that benefit," Mr. McKillop said, noting that the SCOA was the only court union to hold out in order to obtain the pay hike. "But it certainly rubs a little salt in the wound knowing that we are further delayed in order for them to complete the calculations necessary to include the other unions."