A five-year stalemate between Philadelphia Mayor Michael
Nutter and the city's largest municipal worker union has finally come to an
end.
Nutter announced Friday that he has clinched a tentative
deal with the blue-collar AFSCME District Council 33, which represents about
10,000 streets, sanitation and other workers. The labor union has been working
without a labor contract or raises since 2009.
"This process often has been long and difficult for all
parties involved," said Nutter. "But as we know, change, significant
change, is often never easily achieved."
The agreement, which goes through the end of June 2016, will
allow both Nutter and the union to claim victories.
The workers will receive a $2,800 signing bonus, as well as
a 3.5 percent raise next month and a 2.5 percent raise in July 2015, as was
previously reported by NewsWorks. District Council 33 also successfully fought
off Nutter's attempt to secure the right to furlough workers.
The deal, which still must be ratified by the rank-and-file
workers, will add $127 million in costs to Philadelphia's five-year budget
plan. If it is approved, Nutter has agreed to withdraw a controversial lawsuit
seeking to impose contract terms on District Council 33. Critics say the
litigation could have negative ramifications on labor unions across the state.
“It’s a good agreement. I’m happy with it,” said Pete
Matthews, president of District Council 33. “It was very significant to get
them to drop that lawsuit.”
Nutter, for his part, achieved modest pension reform.
Current workers will have to choose between enrolling in a new hybrid pension
plan, which includes aspects similar to a 401(k), or contributing an extra 1
percent of their pay starting in 2016 to keep their traditional pension plans.
New workers will have to pay an additional 2 percent to
register in a traditional plan.
"Pension costs are one of the most critically important
cost drivers in our city budget, one that we have been committed to putting on
a new, more affordable course for our taxpayers, while at the same time
offering a high-quality benefit to our city employees," Nutter said.
"We have achieved that goal in this contract."
Nutter also won changes in calculating overtime that could
help reduce costs, as well as a modification that he said would let the city
more easily lay off workers on a temporary basis during economic downturns.
Matthews, the union president, was not at Nutter's news
conference announcing the deal. Nutter, who was in Atlanta for a Democratic
National Committee meeting Thursday night when the agreement was reached,
cautioned the media to not make a big deal of this.
“I would hope that at least for the next 24 hours we could
at least look at this as a positive circumstance here in the city,” said
Nutter. “It doesn’t mean anything else other than the fact that the union was
together last night and wanted to sign, and I wasn’t here last night.”
Matthews said he had not been aware of the news conference.
Matthews has been a vocal critic of Nutter for several
years. He has repeatedly likened him to Scott Walker, the Republican governor
of Wisconsin who has restricted collective bargaining rights in that state.
During Nutter's budget address in 2013, hundreds of
protesting blue- and white-collar workers shouted over the mayor so loudly that
he was forced to retreat and make his speech in another room closed to the
public.
Nutter reached a deal with the white-collar union District
Council 47 in February.
The city's agreement with District Council 33 comes as the
Democratic National Committee considers holding its party's 2016 presidential
convention in Philadelphia. While visiting the city last week, organizers reportedly
made it clear that there could be no labor conflicts during the convention.
Asked if the city’s bid for the convention played a part in
the deal, Matthews said, “If it helped, I'm very appreciative. I can say that.
Because just like everybody else, I want the convention to come here."
Both Matthews and the Nutter administration said a state
mediator, who recently proposed a compromise contract, was instrumental in
securing a bargain.
“That set the framework for the parties to talk using his
proposal,” said Shannon Farmer, the city’s chief labor negotiator. “I think
that made a significant difference.”
Contract talks have been going on since early in Nutter's
first term. With this deal expiring in the summer of 2016, the city's next
mayor elected next year will not have long before needing to try to strike a
new bargain.
Source: NewsWorks
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