Melissa Bailey File Photo
Union Prez Cherlyn Poindexter made the sale.
Rank and file in the city managers union approved a new five-year labor contract by a wide margin, despite hesitation about givebacks in medical and retirement benefits that follow a trend in New Haven government.
AFSCME Council 4 Local 3144 ratified the new contract Monday 172 to 68. The union represents 364 city managers (not the top mayoral appointees) at City Hall and in the school system.
About two-thirds of them, 240, showed up to cast ballots at the New Haven Central Labor Council at 267 Chapel St. The contract now awaits approval by the Board of Aldermen in a July 1 vote, according to union President Cherlyn Poindexter.
“I can’t say that I’m overjoyed about the contract,” Poindexter said. But she said the union won key retirement benefits for grant-funded employees, and made necessary concessions that will keep the city pension fund from going bankrupt.
“There’s lots of changes, some that people don’t like, but in the end those changes will help make our pension fund more sustainable,” she said. “Our pension fund is not doing well right now.”
Melissa Bailey File Photo
Fernando Lage, a manager in the parks department, at a recent union meeting.
The deal follows a series of recent labor agreements that help the city get a handle on rocketing medical and pension costs. In conversations leading up to the vote, some union members balked at medical and retirement concessions, while others said it was the best deal they could get in tough financial times. Click here to read more.
The new contract comes after three years of “tough negotiations,” Poindexter noted. In a statement issued Tuesday, Mayor John DeStefano applauded Poindexter and Floyd Dugas, a private attorney who has been filling in as labor relations chief, for the agreement they worked out.
“This is a responsible agreement that provides market appropriate wage increases, health plan and pensions that are fair to employees and but will also reduce costs to taxpayers,” wrote DeStefano in an emailed statement. “I look forward to the agreement’s prompt consideration by the Board of Aldermen.”
The agreement brings key concessions to retirement benefits:
• Employee contributions to pension plans will increase from 6 percent to 9 percent upon approval by aldermen, then to 10 percent by July 1, 2014.
• New hires and members with fewer than 10 years on the job will have to work longer to qualify for retirement: the sum of their years of service and their age would have to exceed 85 instead of 80. More senior workers will have to work longer, too: They can no longer cash in accrued sick time to retire early; they’ll have to work 30 full years before getting a full pension.
The changes were necessary to protect the city’s pension fund, which has been strained in recent years, Poindexter said. “People are living longer.” When workers were allowed to cash in sick time, they were “leaving at 40 years old and living until 90.” “That’s a problem for the plan.”
“People may not appreciate [the changes] now,” she said, but “they’ll appreciate it later,” when the pension fund is there for them upon retirement.
“I’m glad to be in the position to even have a pension,” she added.
The agreement covers the period from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2015. Here are some other highlights:
• Workers will have to enroll in one of four new health care plans, one of which is a high-deductible plan. To keep their current level of benefits, they’d have to pay higher premiums. That mirrors recent changes already agreed to by other unions.
• 0 percent raises for the first two years, a 2.5 percent raise this year upon approval of the contract by aldermen; then two 2 percent raises.
• New pension benefits for special fund employees, who are hired on grants. They will be offered the chance to join a retirement plan administered by the city. The city would match a worker’s contribution of up to 3 percent of the worker’s salary. Employees would become 50 percent vested at five years and fully vested at 10 years.
• Vacations cut down to: 2 weeks after 1 year, 3 weeks for 5+ years, 4 weeks for 20+ years. Employees who already reached vacation entitlement are grandfathered in.
• New disciplinary action for unexcused absences from work: 3‑day suspension upon the fifth unexcused absence; termination upon the sixth.
Poindexter said now that city managers have made these concessions, she hopes their bosses follow suit. The benefits for the 40-some non-unionized mayoral staffers and department heads have generally mirrored Local 3144’s contract over the years.
“Executive management needs to pay their part,” Poindexter said. “Their contribution to the pension plan should go up as well.”