CWA 1180 - News

Local 1180 joins sanitation workers, Teamsters, teachers, and other municipal unions in historic new coalition to bargain with the city

June 2006

On Friday, June 23, Local 1180 president Arthur Cheliotes joined United Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, Professional Staff Congress president Barbara Bowen, and more than a dozen other union leaders at a press conference at City Hall to announce the formation of a new bargaining coalition.

This new coalition of municipal labor unions is the largest to form in the city in nearly 30 years, and includes 19 municipal unions representing nearly 170,000 uniformed and civilian workers.

“I’ve advocated coalition bargaining for years as the best way to combat givebacks and wage hikes that don’t even keep pace with the cost of living,” says Cheliotes. “Whenever we’ve negotiated as a coalition, from the 1970s fiscal crisis to the recent agreement on pensions, the outcome has been far better than any pattern bargaining result.”

The unions — many of which are part of national or international organizations — represent a broad spectrum of employees, including sanitation workers, teachers, health service employees, Teamsters, supervisors, lawyers, professors, fire dispatchers, building inspectors and others. The coalition includes unions from both major labor coalitions, the AFL-CIO and Change to Win.

“Today marks a milestone for the municipal labor movement in New York. This coalition — the most significant one to have emerged in decades — includes an incredible cross-section of workers from national and international unions like the Teamsters, SEIU and the AFL-CIO and covers uniformed and civilian employees,” said Randi Weingarten, a coalition co-chair and president of the United Federation of Teachers.

“With working people losing their pensions and health care, and the erosion of the middle class, many of us realize that the issues that bind us are far greater than the ones that divide us,” Weingarten added. “We all have a common interest as working people to protect the economic security of our

Who’s in?

Here’s an updated list of who had joined the coalition as of August 8, with a total of 173,692 municipal members, or 48.1 percent of the city workforce.

• Committee of Interns and Residents (hospital workers)
• Communications Workers of America (CWA), Local 1180
• CWA Local 1182 (traffic agents)
• CWA Local 1183 (Board of Elections)
• Fire Alarm Dispatchers Benevolent Association
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters ( IBT), Local 237 (Housing Authority, etc.)
• International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 891 (school custodians)
• Marine Engineers’ Benevolent Association
• New York City Deputy Sheriffs’ Association
• New York State Nurses Association
• Organization of Staff Analysts
• Professional Staff Congress
• Sanitation Officers Association, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 444
• SEIU Local 1199 (hospital workers)
• SEIU Local 246 (auto mechanics)
• SEIU Local 300 (assistant buyers)
• SEIU Local 621 (auto mechanic supervisors)
• United College Employees of Fashion Institute of Technology
• Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, IBT Local 831
• Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Chiefs’ Association
• United Federation of Teachers

families. This is a big step, but it is only the first step. It is our hope that other unions will join us in this venture."

The coalition, which represents nearly half of the city’s unionized workers, has agreed to jointly bargain economic issues – including but not limited to wages and health benefits -- for six months.

"We're joining together in solidarity because none of us wants to go years and years without a contract again," said Harry Naspoli, co-chair of the coalition and president of the Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association, Local 831. "Now is the time to do this because the city has its largest budget surplus in history."

“We can no longer afford to stand alone. Coalition bargaining gives every union a say in what is being negotiated before a pattern is established so no one is forced to swallow an inferior contract,” said Carl Haynes, a third co-chair and president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 237. “It also provides leverage for coalition leaders to pressure employers to bargain in good faith and provide contracts for workers on a timely basis.” Nespoli, Haynes and Weingarten will serve as three of the co-chairs. Two others will be selected soon.

The city has bargained with coalitions in the past, although there has not been one as large or diverse since 1978 when civilian unions, along with uniformed firefighters and sanitation workers, banded together to bargain with the city in the aftermath of the fiscal crisis.

In addition to Local 1180, the sanitation workers, Teamsters Local 237 (represented by Richard Hendershot, vice president), and the UFT, other unions joining the coalition are: Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 1199, Dennis Rivera, president, Betty Hughley, executive vice presidentugHughley, executive vice president;; Professional Staff Congress, Barbara Bowen, president; Sanitation Officers Association Local 444 SEIU, Joe Manion, president; Civil Service Bar Association, Gloria Johnson, president; Organization of Staff Analysts, Robert Croghan, chairperson; SEIU Local 300, James Golden, president; Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association, Erik Barton, representative; SEIU Local 246, Joseph Colangelo, president; Uniformed Fire Alarm Dispatchers Benevolent Association, David Rosenzweig, president; United College Employees of Fashion Institute of Technology, Juliette Romano, president; New York State Nurses Association, represented by Nancy Kaleda; and Local 333 UMD Marine Titles, International Longshoreman’s Association, Michael Brandon, president.

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