RAB & Local 32B-32J agree on contract

Real Estate Weekly, April 26, 2000 by Lois Weiss

After much posturing by both sides, the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations and Local 32B-32J of the Service Employees International Union came to terms last week on a new, three-year contract. It was unanimously approved by the RAB on Thursday, April 20th and union members are expected to ratify it by paper ballots that have already been mailed.

The agreement will become effective as of April 21, 2000 and expire on April 20, 2003. Among its highlights is a $21 per year increase for doorpersons, with an additional $2 per year for handypersons. Superintendents will receive an additional $23, $24, and $23 from the first to the third year of their separate contract that begins on June 21.

Funded by an equivalent reduction in health care contributions, an innovative computer training program is to be designed to increase employee productivity, enable them to become computer literate, and allow them to buy discounted computers for their homes, becoming "the best trained work force in the country."

The final terms were agreed to on Wednesday afternoon, April 19th. Both parties were mindful of the Passover holiday that night, and the approaching Easter weekend. The groups had worked nearly round the clock through Tuesday night, and announced the deal at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

While negotiations had been taking place for nearly a month, they had been awkwardly held in front of union audiences that often numbered to several hundred people.

On Monday, April 17th, union trustee Michael Fishman began working with his core negotiating committee of about 50 members. The RAB side slimmed down to simply President James F. Berg, counsel Paul Salvatore, a partner with Proskauer Rose, LLP; and the Chairman of the 2,000 Residential RAB Negotiating Committee, Kenneth Patton, who heads the Real Estate Institute of NYU, while regularly updating the rest of the seven-person committee.

The other Negotiating Committee members were Arnold Goldstein, chairman of the Rent Stabilization Association and Samson Management; James V. O'Connor of Insignia Residential Group; Seymour Zuckerman of Zuckerman & Waldorf; Rita C. Chu; Jack Levy of Rose Associates; and Mary Ann Rothman, executive director of the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums.

Both sides had been submitting written proposals and working on various issues, leaving the wages to the end. On Wednesday afternoon, the RAB made a proposal, and the union came back with a counteroffer. Patton, Berg and Salvatore brought that to the RAB committee, which agreed to the plan. About 3:30 p.m. Patton returned to the Sheraton New York negotiating room with Berg and Salvatore. The Union Trustee, Fishman walked up to him and asked, "Do we have a deal." Patton replied, "Yes," and the union members burst into applause.

The contract calls for about a 10.2 percent wage increase over three years. The actual cost of the contract, a spokesperson said, is 9.2 percent, once wages and benefits are factored together. Porters and others had been paid $597 per week, and handypersons $658. That will rise by $21 and $23 respectively, as of April 21. Superintendents' wages will go up $24, $23 and $24 per week over the next three years.

Other changes include a reduction in the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 62 years, for those with at least 25 years of service.

The current annuity plan is also being changed to an employee contributing 401K plan.

Employers will be gaining flexibility in terms of reducing their workforce and there are other language changes that benefit both union and employers.

The following is a summary of the terms:

WAGE INCREASES:

(a) Porters and Others:

(1) Effective April 21, 2000 - $21.00 per week ($.525 per hour).

(2) Effective April 21, 2001 - $21.00 per week ($.525 per hour).

(3) Effective April 21, 2000 - $21.00 per week ($.525 per hour).

(b) HANDYPERSONS:

The minimum weekly wage differential shall be increased by $2.00 effective April 21, 2000, $2.00 per week effective April 21, 2001 and $2.00 per week effective April 21, 2002.

(c) SUPERINTENDENTS:

(1) Effective April 21, 2000 - $24.00 per week.

(2) Effective April 21, 2001 - $23.00 per week.

(3) Effective April 21, 2002 - $24.00 per week.

FUND CONTRIBUTIONS:

ANNUITY FUND INCREASES

Effective January 1, 2002 - $1.00 per week.

Effective January 1, 2003 - $1.00 per week.

The current annuity fund will be changed to a 401(k) plan. The Employer will make contributions to such plan in the same amount as was made into the annuity fund and the employees may elect to contribute amounts to such a plan by payroll deductions to the extent permitted by law. The rate or amount of payroll deduction may be changed once a year.

MOVING EXPENSES: The moving expense allowance for Superintendents who are terminated during their trial period is increased from $500 to $750.

SUPERINTENDENTS APARTMENT: Superintendents who are terminated from employment and choose not to file a grievance concerning such termination will have 60 days to vacate their unit, an increase of 30 days.