2001.07.26: Contract Negotiations

From: ALAA HQ (Michael Letwin)
Date: Thu, Jul 26, 2001 at 3:27 PM
Subject: Contract Negotiations
To: ALAA Members

** High Priority **

Last night’s special ALAA Delegate Council meeting on contract
negotiations was attended by 61 people.

The DC adopted motions to: (1) submit Management’s contract offer,
including any modification through further negotiation, for a
membership vote on Thursday, September 6 (Zuss)(36-17; see attached
roll-call[*]); and (2) hold another special Delegate Council meeting
concerning contract negotiations on Tuesday, August 28, 6:30 p.m.
(Popper)(voice vote).

The meeting defeated proposals to: (1) rule out of order the September
6 membership vote motion (Popper)(6-43-3); (2) table the September 6
membership vote motion (Zablocki)(19-32); and (3) hold a September 6
membership vote only if Management agrees to maintain current parental
leave [Management’s current proposal would reduce such leave for those
other than birth-mothers] (Dinjian)(15-34-1).

Details about September 6 voting procedure will be forthcoming.

In the interim, the Executive Board will continue negotiating,
particularly in regard to:  (1) maintenance of current parental leave;
(2) non-CDD comp time; and (3) second-year comparability increases.
Results will be reported to the August 28 Delegate Council meeting and
to the entire membership.

——

Roll-call

July 25 DC Motion to Hold September 6, 2001 Membership Ratification Vote Adopted 36-17 (alternates listed only if voting in place of absent member)
POSITION/UNIT	NAME	YES	NO
President	Letwin	Present, but under Union rules votes only if tie
Secretary–Treasurer	Albro	X
Recording Secretary	Hitchcock	Absent
VP–CAB/CAP/Fed	Blum	X
VP–CDD/Bx	Geltman		X
VP–CDD/Bk	Zuss	X
VP–CDD/M	Geida	X
VP–CDD/Q	Popper		X
VP–Civil	Holder		X
VP–JRD	Hochberg	X
VP–Volunteer (CLO)	Bing–Hampson	Absent
CAB Proper	Cohen	Absent
	Fabiano	Absent
	Graves	Absent
	Harpaz	X
	Hopkirk	X
	Little	X
	Peters	X
	Willer	X
	Sender (Alt)	X
Capital	Vacant	Absent
Fed–APP & SDNY	Statsinger	Absent
Fed–EDNY	Padden	Absent
Parole Revocation	Lopez	Absent
Prisoners Rights	Zelermyer	X
CDD–BxA	Rogers	Absent
	Sim	X
	Rush–Fox (Alt)	X
CDD–BxB	Garcia	X
	Gurwitch	Absent
	Meyerson (Alt)	X
CDD–BxC	Abbandando	Absent
	Bomba	Absent
	Rudin (Alt)	X
	Beltre (Alt)	X
CDD–BxD	Follett	X
	Ippolito	Absent
CDD–Bk1	Baker		X
	Bell	Absent
	Dinjian (Alt)		X
CDD–Bk2	Angrisani	Absent
	Ashworth	Absent
	Korotzer (Alt)		X
CDD–Bk3	Ritter	X
	Sheehan	X
CDD–Bk4	Pellegrino	Absent
	Cashman	Absent
	Kurtz (Alt)	X
	Rahall (Alt)	X
CDD–Bk5	Wasserman, R.		X
	Pratt	X
CDD–M1	Daley	Absent
	Nevins	X
	Anderson (Alt)	X
CDD–M2	Gross		X
	Narra		X
CDD–M3	Bahr	Absent
	Vacant	Absent
CDD–M4	Maron	Absent
	Mulligan	Absent
CDD–M5	Seeley	X
	Soto	X
CDD–M6	Affler		X
	Wright		X
CDD–Spec. Lit.	Wasserman, S.	Absent
CDD–Q1	Morrison	Absent
CDD–Q3	Frederick	Absent
	Knightly	X
CDD–Q4	Austin	Absent
	DiFlumeri		X
	Byrne (Alt)		X
Civil–Aging	Vacant	Absent
	Durham (Alt)	X
Civil–Appeals/HRP	Vacant	Absent
	Kelleher		X
Civil–Bx	Frieder	Absent
	Stoller		X
Civil–BNO	Vacant	Absent
	Rosenberg	Absent
Civil–Far Rockaway	Shortell	Absent
Civil–Harlem	Sackey		X
Civil–Immigration	Floyd-Mayer	Absent
Civil–LMNO	Bodden		X
Civil–Q	Flores	Absent
Civil–SI	Salvatore	X
JRD–App/Spec. Lit.	Egger	Absent
JRD–Bx	Roman	X
JRD–Bk	Greenbaum	Absent
	Karasyk	Absent
JRD–M	Lamb	Absent
	Martin	X
	Pappadopoulos (Alt)	X
JRD–Q	Bowler	X
	Mittler	Absent
JRD–SI	Lee	Absent
Volunteer (CLO)	Lundgren	X
	King	Absent

 

2001.07.17: LAS Contract Offer (Attached)

From: MLetwin@HQWEST.WEST [mailto:MLetwin@HQWEST.WEST]
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2001 2:19 PM
To: ALAA MEMBERS@HQWEST.WEST
Subject: LAS Contract Offer (Attached)
Importance: High

Attached are (1) Management’s July 16 contract offer; and (2) ALAA’s original proposals.  Please also note the following:

CDD Comp Time.  This offer does not propose to change CDD comp time in any way.

Retro Checks.  Membership ratification by July 30 will permit inclusion of retro in the August 3 paychecks.  Due to August vacations, however, subsequent ratification would not permit payment of retro until after Labor Day.  Tonight’s Delegate Council will consider the issue of whether and when to scheduling a ratification vote.

E-Mail Discussion.  E-mail discussion of the attached is most welcome.  Writers may wish to limit recipients to the “ALAA Members” distribution list.

2001.07.18: Report on Delegate Council Meeting

From: ALAA HQ (Michael Letwin)
Date: Wed, Jul 18, 2001 at 6:17 PM
Subject: Report on Delegate Council Meeting
To: ALAA Members

** High Priority **

Last night’s Delegate Council meeting, attended by forty-three people,
adopted the following motions concerning contract negotiations.

First, the DC unanimously voted that the Executive Board (Bargaining
Committee) should continue negotiations on issues including, but not
limited to: (1) maintenance of current paid parental leave; (2)
non-CDD comp time; and (3) salary comparability (see offer, App. 2).

Second, it voted 17-12-2 to meet again next Weds., July 25, following
additional negotiations and upcoming local membership meetings.

Third, the DC unanimously voted to poll the members regarding their
summer vacation schedules.

Not adopted were motions to:  (1) schedule a contract ratification
vote on or before July 30 (failed: 18-15); (2) schedule a contract
ratification vote between Labor Day and September 10 (tabled: by voice
vote); and (3) schedule no contract ratification vote on any contract
proposal that reduces existing parental leave (tabled: 22-7-2).

ALAA members are strongly encouraged to make their voices heard on
these important issues by attending both their local office meetings
and next Wednesday’s DC meeting, 6:30 p.m., at ALAA HQ, and/or by
communicating their views to Union reps.  Again, please RSVP your
attendance at the DC so that sufficient pizza is on hand.

2001.07.17: LAS Contract Offer (Attached)

From: ALAA HQ (Michael Letwin)
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2001 2:19 PM
To: ALAA Members
Subject: LAS Contract Offer (Attached)

** High Priority **

Attached are (1) Management’s July 16 contract offer; and (2) ALAA’s original proposals.  Please also note the following:

CDD Comp Time.  This offer does not propose to change CDD comp time in any way.

Retro Checks.  Membership ratification by July 30 will permit inclusion of retro in the August 3 paychecks.  Due to August vacations, however, subsequent ratification would not permit payment of retro until after Labor Day.  Tonight’s Delegate Council will consider the issue of whether and when to scheduling a ratification vote.

E-Mail Discussion.  E-mail discussion of the attached is most welcome.  Writers may wish to limit recipients to the “ALAA Members” distribution list.

Proposals Offer

2001.07.17: LAS Contract Offer

[Original format:  LAS Contract Offer 7.17.01]

LAS Contract Offer
July 17, 2001

Item	Year 1 (10/1/00)	Year 2 (10/1/01)
Salary
Across-the-board[1]	3%	3%
Senior attorneys	—	New annual salary steps through 25 (App. 1)
	—	Supplemental increases at steps 13-25 (App. 1)
Junior attorneys	—	Supplemental Increases at steps LG-3 (App. 1)
Comparability	—	Additional increases if LAS funding increases (App. 2)
Other Compensation
TransitCheks	10/1/00-3/31/01,[2] 7/1/01-9/30/01	Permanent benefit
Pension	Contributions: semi-annual contributions due no later than 7 mos. from close of respective semiannual evaluation period
	Legal expense cap: $50k per plan year (from $25k)(previously agreed)
Cab allowance (all divisions)	No cap for travel within NYC; case-by-case approval for travel outside NYC
Meal allowance (all divisions)	$8.75 for 5+ hrs mandatory work assignment over regular hours (NYC rate) (eff. on ratification, i.e., not retro)
Foreign language classes	$25k fund; max of $500/yr individual reimbursement
Insurance Benefits
Medical	Current benefits:  No reductions proposed
	—	Retirees: Medicare supplement w/ Rx rider at 65+25yrs LAS service (eff. 7/1/02)
	—	Oral contraceptives (eff. 1/1/02)
	—	Dental: $1500 annual max (from current $1250)(eff 1/1/02)
	—	Vision: upgrade (eff. 1/1/02)
Long-term disability (LTD)	—	Max.:  60% of $80k (from current $60k)(eff. 1/1/02) (n/a to those already on LTD)
Supplemental life	—	Implementation of individual option to buy at group rates
Time-Off
Paid parental leave	2 wks, exclusive of short-term disability benefits (6 wks normal delivery; 8 wks Caesarian), for all employees[3]
Part-timers	Salary steps:  annual advancement (from current pro-rata)(eff. 9/1/01)
	Job share (CDD): option to work more than 50% paid time, with management approval
Personal days (non-CDD)	Under discussion: elimination of flex-time in exchange for additional personal days
Private practice	Continued prohibition on employment in conflict with LAS work; case-specific prior approval for non-conflict private practice
Vacation buyback (non-CDD)	Individual option to buyback 5 vacation days/yr (from current 3)

Quality of Representation
Felony certification (CDD)	Where the felony certification process includes self-evaluation, supervisors will provide an outline of issues to which attorneys should address themselves; felony-certification will not be revoked because of an attorney’s transfer to another office or boro; joint committee to develop certification criteria.
Maximum workload standards	Divisional Union-Management committees will develop appropriate maximum individual attorney workload standards (language under negotiation)
External reports	Management will solicit the Union’s views regarding narrative reports to funders or other oversight bodies concerning Legal Aid representation

 

Appendix 1:  Salary Chart

(New Steps in Bold)

 

Step	# Attys[4]	Current	Y1:  10/1/00	Y2:  10/1/01	Over 3% in Y2 by
LG	15	36,750	37,853	41,200	2,211
1	17	37,500	38,625	41,973	2,189
2	39	39,000	40,170	43,260	1,885
3	75	42,100	43,363	45,320	656
4	46	46,500	47,895	49,332	—
5	42	50,200	51,706	53,257	—
6	33	53,900	55,517	57,183	—
7	29	56,250	57,938	59,676	—
8	36	58,350	60,101	61,904	—
9	30	60,250	62,058	63,920	—
10	29	64,500	66,435	68,428	—
11	37	68,500	70,555	72,672	—
12	45	71,500	73,645	75,854	—
13	69	75,000	77,250	80,000	432
14	—	—	—	80,500	932
15	60	76,000	78,280	81,000	372
16	—	—	—	81,500	872
17	46	77,000	79,310	82,000	311
18	—	—	—	82,500	811
19	—	—	—	83,000	1,311
20	12	78,000	80,340	83,500	750
21	—	—	—	84,000	1,250
22	5	79,000	81,370	84,500	689
23	—	—	—	85,000	1,189
24	—	—	—	85,500	1,689
25	57	80,000	82,400	86,000	1,128

 Appendix 2:  ADA Comparability

1.  Both ALAA and the LAS recognize and support a goal that staff attorneys receive total compensation which is comparable to that received by ADAs in Bronx, Brooklyn, New York and Queens Counties and that, due to the lack of sufficient funding, the economic terms contained herein narrows, but does not close, the comparability gap between the two groups. It is also recognized that LAS may receive funding increase(s) during the term of this contract which would allow it to narrow or close this gap.

2.  To that end, the parties agree that should the LAS receive, during the term of this contract, a funding increase sufficient to further narrow or close the comparability gap in the FY commencing July 1, 2002, the parties will, immediately upon learning of such increase, undertake to ascertain the four-boro average of total compensation received by non-managerial ADAs at yearly levels of service.  After ascertaining such ADA compensation, the LAS agrees to pay staff attorneys as close to comparable total compensation as such additional funding allows.  Such compensation increases shall be effective July 1, 2002.

---

^[1]Raises are in addition to annual step increases.

^[2]LAS will not charge the cost for this period against this CBA.

^[3]Reduction for non-birth mothers due to potential legal vulnerability of current provision.

^[4]Head count at 6/22/01 (excludes FDD).