The tentative settlement for New York City's teachers could sharpen tensions in coming municipal union negotiations, labor and municipal finance experts said, because the double-digit raise promised to the teachers could embolden other unions to make hefty demands.þþThe teachers' settlement is expected to heighten tensions in another way — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg signaled in the talks that he was eager to save money by revamping work rules, which are often jealously guarded by unions.þþThe deal, which provides raises of 16 percent to 22 percent over 30 months, comes as the city is beginning a new round of negotiations with unions representing more than 250,000 workers. The 27-month contract for District Council 37, the largest municipal union, expires at the end of this month.þþÿAs a result of the teachers' contract, it will be harder for Bloomberg to hold the line on raises,ÿ said Daniel Walkowitz, a labor historian at New York University. ÿOther unions will say the teachers got 7, 8 percent a year, and they're going to say they don't want to accept a cost-of-living increase of just 2 percent.ÿþþBut municipal finance experts said Mr. Bloomberg should be able to resist such large demands by stressing that the city faces a $5 billion budget gap this year and bigger ones in future years. þþCity officials and some union leaders say the teachers' settlement should not set a pattern for the new round of negotiations because it came at the tail end of a bargaining round in which almost all other unions have already signed contracts.þþGregory DeFreitas, director of the labor studies program at Hofstra University, said the teachers' contract should not set a pattern ÿbecause it was signed 19 months after their old contract expired, because they began negotiations when the city had a surplus and because the teachers were a special case because of the vast salary gap with the suburbs.ÿþþOnly two major unions — the police and the firefighters — have not completed deals from the previous round of negotiations. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, which is seeking a 22 percent raise over 30 months, just completed two months of hearings before an arbitration panel. A decision is expected in the next few months.þþRobert W. Linn, the police union's chief negotiator, predicted that the size of the teachers' raise would help the P.B.A.'s cause. Echoing the teachers, the police argue that they need a large raise to retain and recruit officers, who are often lured by higher salaries in the suburbs.þþÿThe teachers' agreement,ÿ Mr. Linn said, ÿdemonstrates that the city must make a market-adjustment to make its employees competitive with pay received by workers in nearby communities.ÿþþCity officials say the teachers merely obtained the pattern received by other nonuniformed unions — 4 percent a year, which for the teachers translated into 10 percent over 30 months. The teachers received 6 percent more in exchange for lengthening the school day by 20 minutes on average. In the arbitration hearings, the city argued that the P.B.A. should not receive a raise above the pattern unless it agreed to an increased workload.þþCharles Brecher, research director of the Citizens Budget Commission, a business-backed watchdog group, said the teachers' settlement undercut the P.B.A.'s case. þþÿThe teachers' contract makes clear that settlements should follow the pattern, and any deviations can be justified only because of the longer workweek and the availability of state funding to pay for it,ÿ he said.þþBut Mr. Linn argued that the teachers' accord deviates from the pattern by giving far more than other unions received. He said the P.B.A. would be hard put to accept an increased workload in exchange for additional pay because the city's police work 7 percent more hours than do most suburban police.þþInsisting that Mr. Linn was wrong, the city's labor commissioner, James F. Hanley, said the teachers' settlement was ÿ100 percent consistent with the pattern.ÿþþHe said, ÿIn the past we've always been willing to pay over and above an established pattern for increased productivity.ÿþþKevin Gallagher, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, praised the teacher raises and said, ÿWe are looking forward to similar consideration for our members.ÿþþLast July, the firefighters tentatively agreed to a 10 percent raise over 30 months, but the union, shaken by the Sept. 11 disaster and the deaths of 343 firefighters, never submitted the settlement to a vote. ÿWe are prepared to sit down with the city to discuss an enhanced contract for the dangerous job undertaken day after day by our firefighters,ÿ Mr. Gallagher said.þþCarl Haynes, president of Teamsters Local 237, which represents more than 15,000 municipal workers, including many housing authority workers, said he expected many union members to demand big raises in response to the teachers' contract.þþBut he said, ÿThe deficit is going to make it hard to ask for a lot.ÿþþHe predicted that the mayor would ask for work rule changes, but said, ÿI'm going to use every resource in the union to resist giving anything back.ÿþþLillian Roberts, District Council 37's executive director, said the teachers' contract should not affect her union's negotiations because it was part of the old bargaining round.þþShe said she feared that Mr. Bloomberg might resort to layoffs. ÿIt's not to his benefit to lay off people, because they will just end up on the welfare rolls,ÿ she said. ÿWe have to work together to make sure we don't cripple our work force.ÿþ
Source: NY Times
