Call for Bigger Location Pay Hike
PEF Energized by CSEA Deal

By REUVEN BLAU

Hundreds of Public Employees Federation workers waved yellow clackers and clutched green signs urging Governor Spitzer to increase pay for high cost-of-living areas at an Oct. 30 rally outside of City Hall.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow SHOUT-OUT FOR INCREASED LOCATION PAY: Public Employees Federation President Ken Brynien Oct. 30 told workers gathered at a rally outside City Hall that the union was seeking to negotiate a Federal pay system for employees assigned to expensive areas of the state. Mr. Brynien was flanked by Region 10 Coordinator Vernetta Chesimard, left, and Vice President Pat Baker.

A day earlier, the Civil Service Employees Association announced a tentative contract settlement with the Spitzer administration that would provide 13 percent in raises over four years and double the location pay for employees assigned to the downstate region.

Seeking Federal Rate

That proposed agreement, which if ratified would likely set the pattern for PEF and the other state unions, seemed to buoy the energized crowd of workers who attended the rally during their lunch break. They cheered and snapped their noisemakers back and forth throughout the gathering, erupting in applause at each mention of how difficult it had become for them to work in a city with constantly increasing costs.

"We dedicate our lives to provide services to the citizens of New York City and Long Island, but we can't even afford to live here!" PEF President Ken Brynien told the crowd.

PEF is seeking to convince the Governor's Office of Employee Relations to switch to a Federal pay system, which provides Federal employees from Ulster County south with an additional 10.59 percent of salary as location pay.

Under that program, an employee in a position whose basic salary was $50,000 would receive in excess of $5,000 more each year, Mr. Brynien noted. "If George Bush can give it, then Eliot Spitzer certainly can," he asserted.

CSEA Details

Sources indicated, however, that PEF and the city's other state-employee unions are pleased with the location pay included in CSEA's proposed deal and will probably look to negotiate similar financial terms.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow SEEKING ADDED DIFFERENTIAL: Members of the Public Employees Federation Oct. 30 rallied outside City Hall, urging Governor Spitzer to more than double location pay for employees assigned to the downstate region.

Under that agreement, effective April 1, 2008 the annual downstate location pay differential would increase to $1,850, up from $1,302. That figure would jump to $3,026 on Oct. 1, 2008. The Mid-Hudson adjustment would increase from $651 to $1,000 on April 1, 2008, and to $1,513 on Oct. 1, 2008.

"We are going to try to tailor that for our own personal needs," PEF Vice President Pat Baker told the audience.

PEF officials contend that the current program unfairly excludes part-time employees. The state also provides greater pay to state employees working in uniformed services even though they work side by side with civilian titles, the union added.

PEF is the state's second-largest state-employee union, representing 54,000 mostly white-collar workers. Roughly 20,000 of its members are assigned to downstate regions.

Unions: Decent Deal

Several key state unions said last week that the CSEA's agreement appeared to be a reasonable contract that they could use as a basis to mold to meet their individual needs.

"Out of the gate it is certainly better than in the past, because it contains no zeros," said Dennis W. Quirk, president of the Court Officers Association.

Mr. Quirk, who is heading a bargaining coalition of eight other court unions, said that he could not fully evaluate the agreement without seeing more details. "If I told you I want to sell you a house but you can't see the inside, would you buy it?" he asked. "We want to see the entire agreement."

CSEA spokesman Stephen Maderasz responded that the union was working to distribute that information to its members. "We are negotiating for our members," he remarked. "We are trying to get this to a lot of people - it doesn't happen instantaneously."

Torpedoes in Storage

In 2000, Mr. Quirk led a lobbying effort that resulted in rank-and-file CSEA members rejecting the initial deal the union negotiated. He indicated last week that a repeat performance seemed unlikely.

"The changes in the medical insurance are not bad," he added. "There are some improvements to the plan."

Upon ratification, the basic medical deductible would go from $225 per person to $250. Co-pays for emergency room visits and hospital outpatient surgeries would increase by $10. Some of those hikes were offset, however, by several health-care benefit enhancements for specific procedures and new treatments and tests, Mr. Madarasz said.

'Hasn't Gone Far Enough'

At the end of the rally, Mr. Brynien maintained that PEF would be seeking a location pay adjustment comparable to the Federal model. "We don't think the Governor has gone far enough and we are going to try to improve that deal," he remarked.

Before this round of bargaining began, PEF built a coalition of unions that all agreed to stress the importance of increasing location pay, Mr. Brynien said. "For the first time, the other unions were asking for the same thing," he added. "The previous administration would ask, 'Why would a PEF Social Worker need a COLA if a CSEA Secretary doesn't?'''

The coalition included the CSEA, as well as the United University Professions, the Organization of New York State Management/Confidential Employees, and the small number of state employees represented by District Council 37.

'Still Need More'

The alliance between the CSEA and PEF marked the first time the two unions worked together on a bargaining issue that has remained stagnant for years. The two labor organizations have had a strained relationship ever since PEF was formed out of the professional, science and technology titles that broke away from the CSEA in 1979.

"Now it looks like everyone is going to get something," Mr. Brynien remarked. "That's why everyone is excited."

The union president, who was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Long Island, said he had a unique understanding of the problem. "I see the difference in cost of living because I've lived in all those places," he remarked, noting that many family members still reside in New York City while he lives in Albany. "The rent down here is more than [it would cost me to] build a new home. It's ridiculous."

Rosanne Lewit, a veteran Disability Analyst 1, noted that the price of food and other essentials has increased over the years, while the location pay has only slightly increased. "I moved out to New Jersey because it's cheaper," she remarked, standing next to police barriers following the rally. "I grew up in The Bronx."

'We Could Do Better'

The CSEA package, which doubles the location pay differential, was still too low, she argued. "It doesn't encompass the cost of living," she commented. "Even the MTA is proposing an increase. We feel we could do a lot more."

Ed Ott, AFL-CIO New York City Central Labor Council Executive Director, said that the increased expenses were forcing state workers away. "Rents are driving people to the perimeters of the city to as far out as Pennsylvania," he told the crowd. "There's an insensitivity involved here that requires you to take to the streets. We should not have to demand what everyone can see."