WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL-CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey.  October 4, 2004: The Common Council tonight will vote to approve a settlement of the Civil Service Employees Association contract dispute that has been on going for 2-1/2 years, and was settled the week of August 18. The agreement is for 5 years raising C.S.E.A. salaries across the board over the life of the contract by 19%. The contract begins retroactively back to July 1, 2002, and runs to July 1, 2007, and the accumulated raises due C.S.E.A. members will be paid in a lump sum.

They will also vote on the extension of the New York Presbyterian Hospital site plan permit to build a proton accelerator/biomedical research complex on the NYPH property in the City's East End.

WPCNR had learned of this settlement August 20, through a report that Mayor Delfino had signed the agreement with the union prior to leaving on his trip to Israel. WPCNR had attempted to confirm that with the President of the C.S.E.A. union, Joseph Roche, and  Janice Marra,  the spokesperson for the C.S.E.A. in Beacon, N.Y., and Paul Wood, Acting Executive Officer of the  Mayor’s Office, and members of the Common Council, but our calls were not returned at the time

According to the papers submitted with the Common Council Agenda, the contract is for five years, calling for a 3.75% raise for 2002-03, a 3.75% raise for 2003-04. Then the raise goes to 4% a year for the final three years of the contract as follows:  4% for the current year 2004-05. In July of  2005-06, CSEA members will receive another 4% raise, and again in July of 2006, a third raise of 4%, taking CSEA-ers out to July of 2007.

Longevity Rewards after 12, 15 and 20 years.

Another provision in the new Stipulation of Agreement signed by the Mayor is delivering of automatic longevity increases in salary, in addition to the normal raise increase, after 12, 15 and 20 years of service. According to the new Stipulation of agreement, there are minimal longevity increases going back the first two years of the contract of $25 for 2002-2003, and $25 again in 2003-04.

As of July 1, 2004, the automatic longevity reward sweetens.

The agreed-upon contract calls for an automatic raise of $800 for employees with 12 years of service with the city; a raise of $900 for employees of 15 years, and employees with 20 years of service receive a $1,000 increase.

On July 1, 2006, those previous upgrades of $800 for 12 years’ service, $900 for 15 years’ service, and $1,000 for 20 years, will be increased by $100, to $900 for 12 years, $1,000 for 15 years’ service, and $1,100 for 20 years’ service. 

C.S.E.A. Dental/Optical Cost to city to Accelerate. Optical Payout Capped.

The city will pay for increased costs  in the CSEA dental and optical plans. In the first two years of the contract the city-paid increase for persons in the dental is $3. However that is up sharply as of July 1, 2004 with the city paying $145 more per person. In 05-06, it will go up again by $53, and in July, 2006, it will go up another $50. The total dental plan increase over the next three years to the city per CSEA employee is $248.

On the optical plan, there is a catch-up increase, retroactive to July 1, 2002 of $33 per C.S.E.A. employee, followed by a $6 increase in the optical cost per worker in 2003-04, and another $5 effective in the 04-05 year, followed by a hike of $23 in July of 03-04

The Agreement also caps the amount the city is required to pay to any CSEA employee for an optical procedure at $269.

On both the opitical and dental structures, WPCNR does not know whether the increases apply across the board according to levels of dental and optical coverage, or whether they are increases in the individual coverage.

Tuition Reimbursement up.

The city has also agreed to double the amount of tuition reimbursement the city per C.S.E.A. employee from $500 to $1,000, contingent on the city funds available for such reimbursement. C.S.E.A. employees have to apparently compete with other union members and other city employees for this tuition assistance, based on funds available.

City to Inform C.S.E.A. Before Disciplining an Employee.

In non-monetary matters, the union has negotiated an agreement where the city is obligated to inform the union before they take disciplinary action against a C.S.E.A. member.

The actual language reads, “The employer will, where possible, and where, in the Employer’s sole, non-reviewable discretion, consistent with its business interests, attempt to notify the Union President or designee prior to serving a union member with formal disciplinary charges.”

The statement perhaps arose about of the same-day firing and escorting out of city hall of an employee, earlier this year by the Mayor’s office.

Credit Union Access.

C.S.E.A. members also gain  access to the credit union currently available to city hall management personnel.

Approximate cost to City: $1,000,000 a year.

There are approximately 400 C.S.E.A. employees out of a workforce of 900 in the city. Using rough figures from the 2004-05 budget, the negotiated settlement will cost the city about $5,000,000 over the life of the contract. The impact of the retroactive pay increases has reportedly already been incorporated into the 04-05 budget.

However the approximate cost of the contract in wages alone, over the next two budget years, according to WPCNR’s rough calculations amount to approximately $1,100,000 more in wages for C.S.E.A. employees in 05-06 and an additional $1,100,000 in 2006-07.

As a rough rule, for every $1,000,000 you increase the city budget, you have to inact 3.3% in property taxes. So, will downtown redevelopment success take care of these increases? Or will this cost the city about a 3.3 percent property tax increase in the budget next year and another 3.3 percent property tax increase in 2006-07.

The $1,000,000 a year estimate, is just that, based on very rough calculations by WPCNR.

There were a number of job status changes included in this contract.

WPCNR contacted the Personnel Department, for an explanation from Elizabeth Wallace, the Personnel Director, on what the words ADD due to the status of several key positions. Ms. Wallace contacted WPCNR to clarify that the ADD status was to simply bring the positions into the wording of the contract, but the positions were not now CSEA positions.

Union Pres Gets About 60 days Work Time for Union Business.

When Mr. Roche was contacted in late August to get details on these longevity raises, (whether this is precedent-setting, a first, or whatever,) and other information on the contract, Mr. Roche told WPCNR, “I’m not going to give you any information on it.” Asked why, Mr. Roche told WPCNR, “ Because I don’t want to.”

Another interesting section of the agreement grants the CSEA local Union President an additional ½ day a week he is allowed while on city time for tending to union business, in effect giving the union president  a 3-1/2 day work week for the city if he or she uses all the time allowed him. If the union president enjoys 2 weeks vacation, this would mean they already have 50 days per week at their disposal for union business, and now will get an extra ½ day, in effect giving him 25 days more, a total of approximately (depending on his actual vacation time) 75 days of paid city time to do union business.

When WPCNR attempted to contact Mr. Roche, the current union president,  for clarification of whether he now spends a day and a half on union business each week he is employed, when contacted this morning, was said to be “in the field,” by  a Department of Public Works spokesperson.