CWA 1180 - Calendar

Union reaches contract deal with City

September 2007 (updated 10/23/07)

After nine months of negotiations, Local 1180 struck a new contract deal with the City on September 21 covering the union's 9,000-plus members who work for City agencies and the Health and Hospitals Corporation. The contract features a 7.1 percent raise over 25 months (the compounded value), a new seniority raise of $600 for those who have completed 10 years in the City civil service, and increased contributions to the union's welfare fund, which covers member benefits. The new contract also includes a 0.5 percent productivity raise retroactive to July 2004—an element of a previous contract that had remained unresolved.

The contract, which covers the period September 6, 2006 through October 5, 2008, was modeled after a deal struck with the City by the United Federation of Teachers last fall. But while the UFT deal included raises on months one and six of the contract, the Local 1180 raises kick in on months two and seven, with a 2 percent raise retroactive to October 6, 2006 and a 5 percent raise retroactive to April 6, 2007.

Union negotiators made this concession in order to win a one-time
$167-per-member contribution to the welfare fund, whose budget has been strained by mounting prescription drug costs. The union also won a $35-per-member hike in the City's annual contribution to that fund, bringing the total up to $1,675 per member each year.

Despite a year-long pressure campaign by Local 1180 members to get the full 1 percent productivity raise promised to members in July 2004—and received by DC 37 members in September 2006, within weeks of that union endorsing Mayor Bloomberg for reelection—union negotiators were unsuccessful in winning the full amount at the table. "We made a series of good-faith proposals to them that we thought were credible, but they hold all the cards," says Local 1180 president Arthur Cheliotes. "In my mind, the 1 percent was politically associated with the last election. The fact remains, we did get 0.5 percent, which is more than other units bargaining with the city got, such as the Teamsters and the Staff Analysts."

And Cheliotes points out that the missing 0.5 percent is greatly offset by the new seniority-linked pay raise. That $600 ten-year seniority increase is different from the existing five-year experience differential won in past Local 1180 negotiations. That differential is paid only after a member serves in the same civil service title, at the same level, for five years. Members receive the new increase, called a RIP, or recurring increment payment, after they have served full-time for 10 years for the City or HHC in any combination of civil service titles.

Another major victory was winning full contract benefits for Administrative Job Opportunity Specialists and Coordinating Managers, the latest titles to be represented by Local 1180. When workers in these titles joined the union, the City refused to extend to them the union's existing contract benefits, including the five-year experience differential and contributions to the union's annuity fund and education fund. Union negotiators won all of these benefits for the new titles, though they do not go into effect for these new titles until the final day of the contract, October 5, 2008.

The contract will only be binding if it is ratified by the members. Local 1180 officials expect to mail out ballots on October 10; members will have to vote and return their ballots by October 25. The ballots will be counted on October 26.

Members working for related public employers such as the Comptroller, Public Advocate, District Attorneys, Borough Presidents, New York City Housing Authority, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, and the Department of Education will also receive the contractual wage increases if the contract is ratified.

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