DC 33 agrees to new contract

Philadelphia’s largest municipal union has agreed to a new contract that will give its 9,000 members immediate raises yet force them to pay a pinch more toward the city’s underfunded pension system.

AFSCME District Council 33 ballot count Tuesday reflected an overwhelming support to ratify the union’s contract, which expired in 2009 and making it the last of the four major unions to settle a contract with Mayor Nutter. The vote was done by mail-in ballots and reflected a 4492 to 213 vote, union spokesman Bob Wolper said.

As part of the contract agreement, the Nutter administration agreed to drop a lawsuit in which it sought to impose new contract conditions on DC 33.

The new agreed upon contract is retroactive to July 1, 2009 and goes through June 30, 2016. It will cost the city an extra $127 million during the next five years.

In addition to immediate 3.5 percent raises, the DC 33 members will receive a $2,800 lump sum within 30 days of ratification. In July, members will see another 2.5 percent bump in their paychecks.

The retroactive longevity and step increases will also result in even higher wages for some employees. Those increases were included in the $127 million estimate, said city finance director Rob Dubow.

Members will have to contribute slightly more toward their pensions, with a 0.5 percent increase taking effect Jan. 1, followed by another 0.5 percent increase a year later.

New employees would have to contribute an additional 1 percent above that, or they could opt for a different plan that is a hybrid of a defined-benefit plan and a 401(k).

Other highlights of the plan include:

- The city will pay a $20 million lump-sum into the Health care fund within 30 days of ratification. After that, it will increase its payments to the fund from $976 to $1,194 by July 1 per member per month.

- Effective next year, sick leave will no longer count toward weekly overtime.

- City cannot furlough workers but can lay them off if pension and benefits are unchanged.

The new contract gives a sigh of relief to Nutter who has had a contentious relationship with the unions during his time in office.

Administration officials will have to draft a new five-year plan to show the city’s fiscal overseer, the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (PICA), that the city’s books will still be balanced.

The new plan is due to PICA on Sep. 25. The board has until Oct. 14 to decide whether to approve the new five-year plan

Source: Philly.com