Twin Triumphs in New York
NEW YORK CITY & ALBANY
Local 205 (District Council 1707)
Genoveba Smith thought she would have to leave her job at the Bronx's city-run Soundview day care center — which she herself had attended as a child. Being without a raise for nearly five years has been rough for her and her family. She had to take her 8-year-old son out of a parochial school where he was flourishing. A teacher for 14 years — with a master's degree — Smith earns $34,000, about $10,000 less than teachers in Head Start programs. Still, changing jobs, she said, would have been "a heart-wrenching decision."
The bargaining team for Day Care Local 205 — with strong member support — rode to the rescue, winning their first pay raise since April 2000. And it's a whopper: 12 percent as of Jan. 1, along with a $1,000 signing bonus, and 2 percent effective April 1. The new contract, which runs through March 31, 2006, covers about 7,000 workers at the city's 346 day care facilities — teachers, cooks, office workers, teaching assistants, custodians and caseworkers.
Throughout the negotiations, District Council 1707 had fought for the increases won by other city workers, including a 9 percent raise for the period from Jan. 1, 2001, through April 1, 2003. Members mobilized, marched and rallied, but the city stonewalled. Then, with extra pressure from AFSCME International, Mayor Michael Bloomberg found the money. The new agreement includes retroactive pay to Jan. 1 of this year plus a commitment from the city to support state legislation to fund further retroactivity. The ratification meeting drew 4,500, and resulted in nearly unanimous approval.
Local 1873 (Council 82)
Despite repeated U.S. Labor Department decisions and a federal court verdict in their favor, New York state refused to pay overtime to Environmental Conservation police officers and forest rangers. And when, after 14 years, the state did send out back-pay checks, recipients got only about 30 cents for each dollar owed.
Environmental Conservation Investigators Steve Canfield and Joe Conroy — both Local 1873 stewards — saw the discrepancy and told the union, which filed a grievance and lawsuit. Canfield and Conroy came in for a barrage of management harassment, but pressed the overtime case in behalf of themselves and some 400 co-workers. Their perseverance and attention produced a stunning success: an arbitration settlement that awarded the group nearly $6.7 million in back pay. The individual awards range from $18,800 to $122,000.
Council 82 Pres. James Lyman called the settlement "a great victory for all of us. Our members now stand compensated for their dedication and hard work."
