COs Give Big Nod To New Contract;

92% Approve
COs Give Big Nod To New Contract


Members of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association voted resoundingly Oct. 18 to ratify a 27-month contract that will provide members with two 4-percent raises, hike the starting salaries for new hires to $35,000, and provide specialty pay to hundreds of officers.

NORMAN SEABROOK: Specialty pay a key gain. The 3,142-260 tally in favor of the deal - more than 92 percent in favor - will increase the maximum salary to $68,475 after five years in service, up from the prior $63,309 after 5-1/2 years. Only 41 percent of COBA's approximately 8,300 members voted, though.

Follows Uniformed Deals

The agreement, which will run from Aug. 1, 2007 to Oct. 31, 2009, is modeled after settlements the Bloomberg administration previously reached with the unions representing FDNY supervisors, NYPD Sergeants, and other uniformed groups.

All Correction Officers will receive 4-percent hikes retroactive to Aug. 1 this year and on Aug. 1, 2008, representing a slightly longer version of the pattern established in March by the Uniformed Firefighters Association.

COBA used the extra three months at the end of the accord to help fund added annuity boosts, welfare-fund raises, and longevity increases.

The starting salary for workers appointed on or after Sept. 1, 2008 will be increased to $35,000 before the end of the contract, up from the current $26,667. Those raises and other added benefits are designed to encourage more individuals to join the Correction Department, which has been struggling to attract new officers.

The agreement also establishes a new category of up to 4.9 percent of the bargaining unit designated for special assignment, marking the first time such a provision will be part of the COBA contract.

Can Get 12% Extra

Officers in that group will receive a 3-percent rate increase payable after six months, according to the city's Office of Labor Relations. After each year, it would rise by 3 percent until the maximum 12-percent hike, reached after four years in the designation.

COBA President Norman Seabrook has hailed the specialty pay, which he said places Correction Officers closer to par with Police Officers, some of whom have received that benefit for years.

The Correction Commissioner will have full discretion over who receives the special assignment. The increase mirrors a section in the pattern-setting UFA accord, which gave approximately 500 firefighters in HazMat and Rescue units a 12-percent "specialty pay" raise.

Other Gains

The COBA agreement also includes several other benefits. The city's contribution to the annuity fund will be increased by $370 per year per employee retroactive to July 1, 2007. In addition, the longevity schedule will be hiked by $314 for each step of the schedule, effective Nov. 1, 2007.

The city's annual contribution to the active welfare fund will also increase by $200 for active and retired union members. Benefit funds provide city workers, retirees, and dependents with an array of supplemental health benefits such as for prescriptions and eyeglasses not covered under city-administered health insurance plans.