Chief Leader

Plays the Class Card

"We're dealing with a Mayor who doesn't know the price of milk in this city," said UFA President Stephen J. Cassidy, adding that the city had no sense of urgency about settling the contract. "My members deserve a wage increase. Obviously this Mayor has no under?standing of the financial struggles working-class fam?ilies have to go through."

Speaking at a press conference on the steps of City Hall, Mr. Cassidy said the city wanted "outrageous" concessions from the UFA in exchange for the same wage increase the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association got June 28.

The PBA package handed down by a PERB arbitrator, gave members two 5-percent raises but offset the cost to the city by significantly trim?ming the salary structure for new Police Officers.

Because the attrition rate is far lower among Firefight?ers than for Police Officers, the city would not save as much from the same reduced salary structure under a UFA deal. In addition, future cops will be paid about $3,500 less during their first six months of work, when they are in the Police Acade?my, than for the six months following. A split rate for Firefighters on the same ba?sis would save the city less, since they spend only three months in the Fire Academy.

For those reasons, city negotiators are seeking additional concessions from the UFA to equalize the savings that would be realized from the two unions' contracts.

Mr. Cassidy, while insist?ing that his union wants the PBA wage hikes, also said he would not consider trading on the "unborn" to secure the increase for existing mem?bers. He didn't give details of what demands the city made, but said he'd offered alterna?tive ways for the city to save without reducing the pay structure for future hires.

James F. Hanley, the city's Labor Relations Commissioner, responded that the city was ready to resume talks whenever the union wished. "Labor contracts are best settled at the bargaining table and the city has been, and continues to be ready to negotiate at any?time," he said in a statement.

Although the most recent UFA contract expired June 1, 1 2002, bargaining did not begin until November 2003, and in August 2004 the union filed for a declaration of a bargaining impasse, triggering a PERB-sponsored mediation. The pres?ence of a mediator did little, however, to bring the two sides closer together over the past 13 months.

Added Arbitration Risk

If PERB declares an impasse, the union will be subject to scope of bargaining at the outset of arbitration, which could result in the union losing certain benefits if they're not declared a mandatory part of the contract by the arbitrator. The union lost its guarantee of minimum manning, requiring that five Firefighters be working each shift during scope of bargain?ing sessions before the city's Board of Collective Bargain?ing during its 1989 contract arbitration. Although the UFA is now under the jurisdiction of the BCB's state counterpart, PERB, it could still lose long-held rights under the scope process, which determines what issues are not mandatory subjects of bargaining and can therefore be excluded from a new contract.

The bid to move into arbi?tration occurred two days be?fore a general UFA membership meeting where Mr. Cassidy was likely to face questions about why PBA members have gotten paychecks covering the retroactive money they were owed be?cause of the raises in their recent arbitration award while firefighters have been without a raise since June 1, 2001.