CWA 1180 - Calendar

Health care givebacks on the table

May 2006

We can’t say we weren’t forewarned. In his annual State of the City speech in January, Mayor Bloomberg announced, “We must rein in health care and pension costs that have spiraled out of control. Today, nearly all private sector employees contribute to their health care.”

Now, the other shoe has dropped. According to someone familiar with the negotiations between the city and AFSCME District Council 37, the city is seeking to implement employee contributions toward health care premiums, a third-rail issue that DC 37 and the city have agreed to refer to the Municipal Labor Committee, of which Local 1180 is a member. This at least will open up the debate on a crucial issue to all stakeholders.

Shut out

Such open debate isn’t the case in other areas of bargaining. In December, DC 37 began negotiating the next Citywide Contract without consulting the other unions it represents in such negotiations. DC 37 represents nearly 100,000 city workers at mayoral agencies; offices of the comptroller, borough presidents, and district attorneys; and Health and Hospitals. As the majority union, it thus has the right—due to a section of the City Charter known as the Collective Bargaining Law—to bargain on behalf of several other smaller unions that represent workers at the same job sites, including Local 1180, on non-wage issues such as leave time, overtime rules, and eligibility for health coverage. (Local 1180 and the other unions negotiate with the city separately over wages and issues unique to their members.)

In years past, DC 37 has sometimes met with all the other relevant city unions, including Local 1180, to collectively formulate demands before entering into talks. But this time no such consultation took place. A March 27 letter from CWA District 1 vice-president Chris Shelton and Local 1180 president Arthur Cheliotes to DC 37 executive director Lillian Roberts expressed frustration. “The law gives you the right to bargain on these citywide matters,” it read, “however, it also places upon you the duty to represent all those covered by the City-wide contract.”

Because of such frustrations, the Local 1180 executive board voted in November to pursue a change in the city charter so that DC 37 no longer bargains city-wide issues for everyone. According to Cheliotes, other affected unions—the Organization of Staff Analysts, SEIU Local 1199, and the Teamsters—have also expressed interest in this strategy.

Member surveys and a request for bargaining

Meanwhile, Local 1180 sent out surveys in March to its members to determine contract priorities. Shop stewards, staff reps, and officers met in late March and early April to review the survey results and finalize demands in preparation for Local 1180’s negotiations with the city—and to influence DC 37 in its bargaining, which has too often set a pattern for 1180’s own economic deal.

On April 18, Cheliotes sent a letter to the Office of Labor Relations with a formal request to enter bargaining for a one-year contract extension.

Updates will be posted on this website as negotiations move forward.

Back to Negotiations page

Back to Worksite Organizing page