City Cuts Days Off for '1157' After Pay Hike

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

The Bloomberg administration has reduced the sick and annual leave days for a group of city workers who last year won a 46-percent pay hike after years of court battles.

NOT GIVING UP SICK DAYS: Local 1157 Vice President Bobby Giallanzo is angry that the city slashed members' sick leave by almost half after the Highway Repair Supervisors won a prevailing-wage agreement last year that boosted pay by 46 percent. 'The ruling didn't say the city could reduce the leave time; that's their interpretation of it,' he said.

The city unilaterally cut the paid sick days of Supervisor Highway Repairers from 12 to seven and the annual leave days from a maximum of 27 to 22.5. District Council 37, which represents the Local 1157 members, has filed an improper-practice charge.

'Should've Talked to Us'

"They should have had a negotiating session to discuss it," said Local 1157 Vice President Bobby Giallanzo. "The ruling didn't say the city could reduce the leave time; that's their interpretation of it."

But Labor Relations Commissioner James F. Hanley said that the city was following the law by reducing the supervisors' fringe benefits to match what their counterparts in the private sector received. "It's well settled that if a union asserts their rights for a litigated determination," he said, "that in fact you have to take a look at the benefits and wages being paid to the private sector."

Because the city's benefits were greater, he explained, "we rolled them back so that we would be in compliance with the law."

Under state labor law, certain public-sector blue-collar workers are entitled to the same wages paid in the private sector. Those locals in DC 37 that qualify can petition the City Comptroller's Office to perform a survey to compare wage rates in the private sector if they are not satisfied with the contract negotiated for the larger membership.

Courts Okayed Big Hikes

Several courts in addition to the Comptroller found that Local 1157 members were entitled to the same wages as members of Sheet Asphalt Workers Local 1018 who work in the private sector. Office of Labor Relations officials justified their decision to cut the city employees' leave time based on the lower fringe benefits received by Local 1018 members. They argued that the city was allowed to recoup the value of the disputed leave accruals over the 62 months covered by the prevailing-wage determination and reduce future accruals as well, according to a report from the Comptroller.

Officials at Local 1157 five years ago challenged wage settlements dating back to March 2000. The city balked at an initial finding that bumped the workers from $24.43 to $35.73 an hour, but a State Supreme Court decision June 15, 2007 affirmed the rates, which would pay the 150 Department of Transportation workers wages comparable to highway construction employees in the private sector.

The Highway Supervisors say they believe OLR is once again putting up arbitrary barriers to a legal settlement. Although they may be entitled to further wage bumps for the period between 2005 and 2008, local officials told the city they were willing to take the same raises as the rest of DC 37's members. But OLR's decision to cut their sick leave has thrown a wrench into those negotiations. "We don't have to accept the crumbs that they offer us," said Marc Reed, a member of Local 1157's negotiating committee. "They have to give us what we're entitled to by law. We've gotten all the decisions in our favor. OLR is putting this off and being extremely vindictive about it."

Retro Gain

In addition to the raises, the Supervisors each got between $100,000 and $150,000 in back pay. The increases came just weeks after a similar settlement that increased Construction Laborers' and Highway Repairers' pay by almost 50 percent.

Mr. Reed said the local would keep fighting. "They expect us to give up," he said, "but we're a small local with a lot of attitude and the law on our side."