LAW-CSEA Concessions Scramble Blueprint for Court Negotiations

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CSEA Concessions Scramble Blueprint for Court Negotiations


Joel Stashenko

08-22-2011

ALBANY - Last week's acceptance of a concession-laden contract by a union representing 66,000 state government executive branch employees sets the stage for what could be difficult and protracted negotiations between the court system and 12 unions representing its 15,000 nonjudicial employees.

The contract approved in a mail vote by members of the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) freezes wages for three years, requires unpaid furloughs and increases health insurance contributions.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo was able to use the threat of layoffs as leverage to secure a deal he touted as "a win for the union and a win for the people of the state."


12 Unions Representing
Nonjudicial Employees

• District Council 37 (Local 1070)

• Civil Service Employees Association

• Court Attorneys Association of the City of New York

• Citywide Association of Law Assistants of the Civil, Criminal and Family Courts

• Association of Surrogate's and Supreme Court Reporters Within the City of New York

• New York State Court Officers Association

• Supreme Court Officers Association

• New York State Court Clerks Association

• Ninth Judicial District Court Employees Association

• Court Officers Benevolent Association of Nassau County

• Suffolk County Court Employees Association

• Communication Workers of America (Local 1180)

Source: State Office of
Court Administration

Traditionally, the CSEA executive branch contract has set the parameters for the court systems' negotiation with its unions. This year, however, the courts already have laid off 338 union members, trimmed overtime and imposed other cost-cutting measures before contract negotiations even begin in earnest (NYLJ, June 2).

That could make the unions less receptive to any proposed terms that match the CSEA deal.

Dennis Quirk, the head of the Court Officers' Association vowed that his 1,700-member union would not agree to mandatory unpaid furloughs or increased health insurance contributions on top of the sacrifices his members already have made.

"As far as I'm concerned, this court system already laid off employees, already cut overtime and we've already made all the concessions that we are going to make," Mr. Quirk said in an interview. "We've made our concessions. We're done. We are done."

In particular, he said, "We will battle them to the death on any increase in medical insurance premiums," he said.

The just-ratified five-year executive branch contract requires workers to take nine unpaid furloughs, although they would be paid for four at the end of the agreement. And it reflects a 2 percent to 6 percent increase in insurance contributions.

Brian DiGiovanna, president of the Association of Supreme and Surrogates' Court Reporters, said furloughs would also be anathema to members of his union.

"I don't see how we could go with the furloughs when we have had the layoffs," he said. "That is a significant factor in all these things."

Mr. DiGiovanna said that members of his union would be "shocked" if the courts did not seek a wage freeze to match the one obtained by Mr. Cuomo.

"But would they be willing to accept that? I have no idea," he said.

CSEA also represents more workers in the court system—about 5,900, most of them upstate—than any other union. James Hennerty, the head of the CSEA court unit, declined to comment on whether his members would accept terms similar to those in the executive branch contract.

CSEA President Danny Donohue said in a statement after the ratification of the executive branch contract that "These are not ordinary times and CSEA worked hard to reach an agreement that we believe would be in everyone's best interest."

The president of AFSCME's Council 37, Cliff Koppelman, which represents 1,200 clerical and other court support staff, largely in New York City, said that he has approached other unions about the upcoming negotiations, but his union has not yet framed any demands.

Up to now, he said that the union has been preoccupied by this spring's layoffs, especially the subsequent "bumping" of junior workers by senior ones (NYLJ, April 28).

But he too said that he expects the court system to seek the same wage terms as Mr. Cuomo—a freeze in the first three years and 2 percent raises in each of the final two years. Under the four-year contract that just expired, court workers received raises of 3 percent in each of the first three years and 4 percent in the final year.

Mr. Koppelman added he was unsure whether his workers could stomach a wage freeze.

The court system is under no legal obligation to follow the governor's lead in negotiations. However, administrators have been reluctant in the past to deviate significantly from the terms of the CSEA deal for fear of angering governors or creating salary and benefit scales for Judiciary employees that vary significantly from those of state employees outside the court system.

Judge Lawrence K. Marks, administrative director of the court system, declined to discuss the approach the courts would take this year in the wake of the layoffs—the first in 20 years—saying that the Judiciary did not want to negotiate in the press.

"With the recent developments between the executive branch and its largest union, the court system is optimistic that we can reach agreement now with our unions," he said. "Although our circumstances are somewhat different, given the recent layoffs, we believe there are areas of mutual interest with our unions that can facilitate agreements."

While court officials and unions have discussed a new contract in general terms, no specific contract proposals have been exchanged. Mr. Quirk said his union plans to send the state a set of demands after Labor Day.

Judge Marks said the Office of Court Administration (OCA) has no timetable for reaching a deal but noted that past contracts have sometimes taken a long time to finalize.

For example, the last contract with the major court unions, for the four years that ended March 31, was not settled until July 2008. That was 16 months after the previous deal expired and seven months after the executive branch employees finalized their deal.

Union and state officials said they expect the mechanics of the talks to be similar to those in past years. CSEA and Council 37 representatives traditionally bargain individually with the state on behalf of their members. Most, if not all, of the other unions form a coalition for the talks.

James Welch, the head of the OCA's labor relations office, will head the negotiating teams for the court system.

Another 56,000 executive branch employees who are members of the Public Employees Federation still must vote on a recently concluded deal with the Cuomo administration that is similar to the CSEA pact. The balloting results are expected to be released by late September.

PEF represents no court employees, but several union sources speculated that OCA would not enter into serious talks until those results are available.

Messrs. Quirk and Koppelman and Judge Marks all said that while negotiations may be difficult this year, they are hopeful that fair results can be achieved without combativeness.

"Obviously, we go into this in the spirit of cooperation and try to identify where our interests coincide," Judge Marks said.

Mr. Quirk said the members of coalition have high regard for Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, Administrative Judge Ann Pfau and Judge Marks and are not looking to be needlessly "contentious."

"Our attitude is always that we are looking to negotiate and to do deals," said Mr. Koppelman. "We don't have a history of going in [to negotiations] looking for a fight. We are businesslike. I don't look at it as a war. I may not be happy with all we get, and they may not be happy with what they get. But we are looking to negotiate the best terms."

Source: New York Law Journal