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Westchester reaches deal with union
By KEITH EDDINGS THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original publication: June 2, 2004)WHITE PLAINS — The largest union of public employees in Westchester has reached a tentative agreement with the county that would give its members raises averaging about 3.2 percent in each of four years, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2002.
-Members of the Civil Service Employees Union, which represents nearly 4,000 clerks, social workers, mechanics and other county workers, would get 2 percent raises for 2002 and 2003, and 2 percent raises in January and July of 2004 and 2005. With compounding, the raises would total 12.6 percent over the four years.
-Union members also would see their longevity benefits increase sharply. Bonuses that now range from $475 after five years on the job to $1,000 after 25 years would rise to $1,000 and $2,900 respectively. Other bonuses for 10, 15 and 20 years of service also would increase.-Westchester will continue to pay the total health insurance premiums for CSEA employees and will contribute $300 more toward family dental and optical benefits by Oct. 1, 2005. But employees will pay more for some health benefits, including the cost of prescription drugs and emergency room admissions.
-The new contract also would extend family sick leave and bereavement leave to gay employees. CSEA workers also would give up the Lincoln's birthday holiday in exchange for a new holiday on the day after Thanksgiving.-CSEA leaders presented the contract proposal to several hundred rank-and-file workers at the County Center last night, where it received a mixed review. One worker said the annual raises, which average about 1 percentage point less than the raises recently won by teachers at Westchester Community College, made the CSEA workers "second-class citizens."
"We didn't try to break the bank," union president Jack McPhillips said before the meeting yesterday. "We just tried to get something that was fair and equitable, and we think we got that."
"We're satisfied," said Michael Wittenberg, a consultant who negotiated the contract for County Executive Andrew Spano. "It was a hard negotiation." Deputy County Executive Larry Schwartz would not say what the settlement will cost the county.-The negotiations were among the longest and angriest ever for a county union contract and were complicated by Spano's proposal last November to lay off 253 county employees to balance his proposed 2004 budget. The Board of Legislators refused to approve the layoffs. Union members rallied for a contract outside the county's Michaelian Office Building several times as the talks dragged on, as well as outside the homes of Schwartz and George Latimer, the Rye Democrat who chairs the legislature's labor committee.
-The new contract would expire Dec. 31, 2005, meaning that County Executive Andrew Spano, a Democrat who ran with the union's endorsement in 2001, would not have to negotiate a new contract in the midst of his expected re-election campaign next year.
The contract proposal is being mailed to CSEA workers and, if approved, would be submitted to the legislature at its June 21 meeting. Of the other eight county unions, only the college teachers have settled. Reach Keith Eddings at keddings@thejournalnews.com or at 914-694-5060
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