Post by onthejob on Dec 14, 2011 22:52:58 GMT -5
Glen Cove OKs 10% raise for union workers
December 14, 2011 by EMILY NGO / emily.ngo@newsday.com
Calling municipal employees "the backbone of the city," Glen Cove Mayor Ralph Suozzi applauded the city council's approval of 10 percent raises over five years for the 101 civil service union employees in public works, finance and other city departments.
Some residents questioned the deal and how it would be funded.
The city council voted 6-0 Monday, with one councilman absent, to approve a memorandum of agreement between Glen Cove and the Civil Service Employees Association to the applause of about two dozen union members who attended the meeting wearing CSEA caps.
The agreement, in advance of a new contract expected early next year, will cost about $1.3 million over five years, Suozzi said.
The CSEA members, who have worked without a contract for almost two years, also will receive vision benefits and upgraded dental insurance, the mayor said.
"It was a fair deal," Glen Cove CSEA president Marty Cook said after the meeting. "We didn't get what we wanted, and they didn't get what they wanted. We met in the middle."
The agreement is retroactive, covering union workers from Jan. 1, 2010, until Dec. 31, 2014, he said.
"Most people in Glen Cove take it for granted that every time there's a snowstorm, you guys are out there," said outgoing Councilwoman Delia DeRiggi-Whitton.
CSEA Long Island Region president Nick LaMorte thanked city officials "for doing the right thing."
But Glen Cove residents Phillip Gavosto and Grace Slezak questioned the funding for the union deal. Suozzi's opponent in the November mayoral race, Paul Meli, challenged the timing of the deal.
At the meeting, Suozzi told Meli that he signed the agreement Nov. 4, four days before Election Day. Suozzi led Meli in the race by 143 votes. The mayor said the deal is funded by "contingency money" in the 2010, 2011 and 2012 city budgets.
"My main concern is the economy," Slezak said. "They're the only ones getting raises . . . . The rest of us are making a pittance compared to what we used to make."
RALPH FOR COUNTY EXECUTIVE
December 14, 2011 by EMILY NGO / emily.ngo@newsday.com
Calling municipal employees "the backbone of the city," Glen Cove Mayor Ralph Suozzi applauded the city council's approval of 10 percent raises over five years for the 101 civil service union employees in public works, finance and other city departments.
Some residents questioned the deal and how it would be funded.
The city council voted 6-0 Monday, with one councilman absent, to approve a memorandum of agreement between Glen Cove and the Civil Service Employees Association to the applause of about two dozen union members who attended the meeting wearing CSEA caps.
The agreement, in advance of a new contract expected early next year, will cost about $1.3 million over five years, Suozzi said.
The CSEA members, who have worked without a contract for almost two years, also will receive vision benefits and upgraded dental insurance, the mayor said.
"It was a fair deal," Glen Cove CSEA president Marty Cook said after the meeting. "We didn't get what we wanted, and they didn't get what they wanted. We met in the middle."
The agreement is retroactive, covering union workers from Jan. 1, 2010, until Dec. 31, 2014, he said.
"Most people in Glen Cove take it for granted that every time there's a snowstorm, you guys are out there," said outgoing Councilwoman Delia DeRiggi-Whitton.
CSEA Long Island Region president Nick LaMorte thanked city officials "for doing the right thing."
But Glen Cove residents Phillip Gavosto and Grace Slezak questioned the funding for the union deal. Suozzi's opponent in the November mayoral race, Paul Meli, challenged the timing of the deal.
At the meeting, Suozzi told Meli that he signed the agreement Nov. 4, four days before Election Day. Suozzi led Meli in the race by 143 votes. The mayor said the deal is funded by "contingency money" in the 2010, 2011 and 2012 city budgets.
"My main concern is the economy," Slezak said. "They're the only ones getting raises . . . . The rest of us are making a pittance compared to what we used to make."
RALPH FOR COUNTY EXECUTIVE
