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Monday, July 6, 2009

Union Leaders Slam Nutter's Plan To Freeze Pay Increases

Leaders of the city's municipal unions today slammed Mayor Nutter's plan to freeze pay increases for city workers.

"This is not a positive development for contract negotiations," said Cathy Scott, president of AFSCME DC 47, which represents the city's white collar workers. "It’s never been done before, not even in 1992. We think it’s an insult to city employees who just did a great job on Welcome America."

The city today said pay increases -- including step increases and longevity pay -- would be halted for union workers and non-represented civil service employees.

Scott said DC 47 would be filing a class action grievance tomorrow. The city is relying on a state Supreme Court ruling which states that after a contract expires, an employer must maintain "status quo" during negotiations. That "status quo" does not include pay increases, according to the court. But Scott said she believes "there are provisions in our contract that go beyond the Supreme Court ruling."

John McNesby, president of the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police, and Bill Gault, president of the Philadelphia Firefighters Union, both said they were reviewing their legal options also.

"Our members are due that money and they deserve that money," McNesby said. "Whatever needs to be done, we’ll do on behalf of our members."

Negotiations with DC 47 and blue-collar union DC 33 are supposed to continue later this week. The police and fire contracts are settled through arbitration. That process has started for police and will kick off for fire in September.
 
Posted by Catherine Lucey @ 3:26 PM  Permalink | 35 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:01 PM, 07/06/2009
    Strike! Power to the unions!
    — jeandarc
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:21 PM, 07/06/2009
    I love it! The union hack thinks for some reason the Constitution of PA does not apply to their private organization. Oh the Supreme Court can suck it they seem to want to say. Unions are the death of the American Dream plain and simple...
    — Grill
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:22 PM, 07/06/2009
    Pay the police and firemen. Get rid of all the other unions, hire new college kids new to the city.
    — Jimmy CrackHead
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:30 PM, 07/06/2009
    wyno4: stupid is what stupid does, and you are one
    — Smiley77
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:32 PM, 07/06/2009
    Unions were good back when arguing that 9 year olds shouldnt work a 60 hour workweek in a steel mill. Their time has come and gone. If they are unhappy with the wage freeze, they should all enter into a lottery and if your number gets picked, you get fired. Get rid of 20% of the workforce and lower taxes and phila might not be such a bad place to live
    — Front Man11
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:41 PM, 07/06/2009
    ORGANIZED LABOR = ORGANIZED CRIME...... Fire all DC33 and DC47, nothing but a bunch of lazy overpaid hacks!!!
    — Mike S.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:41 PM, 07/06/2009
    Go Nutter, this is what you were elected to do
    — dreinterests
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:47 PM, 07/06/2009
    The city can simply say, "OK, you refused our contract offer, and we are done negotiating." Then the city is an at-will employer, because there is no contract. There is no contract to sue under. Status-quo ends when the city stops negotiating, so I can't wait for the unions to peeve Nutter so that he has to act, because the finances are what will force him to make his reputation as a pol who told the unions no more. Nutter has a fiduciary duty to the taxpayers first, and we deserve the best deal for our dollar. The unions have failed to make that case.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:49 PM, 07/06/2009
    Ryno is right -- the white collar city employees in Philly are some of the WORST of any city employee in every city I've lived in or visited. It's a crime perpetrated upon the taxpayer to subject them to city employees in public service who are so ignorant, so nasty, and so uneducated.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:49 PM, 07/06/2009
    Where were all of you when "Mikey One Term" was hiring his cabinet members for more than the allowable salaries, asking and getting exemptions and saying "you have to pay for talent". What have they accomplished ? give me one thing they can lay claim to? Do you realize the people you are tearing down are your Family, Neighbors fellow Parishioners and Friends not the CARPETBAGGERS he brought in to destroy the City. Again what have they done!!!!
    — Union Jack
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:50 PM, 07/06/2009
    You really could hire the new crop of college grads looking for work, with all their computer and I.T. skills, and turn this city around in about 600 days if only Nutter will fire the dead rotten wood.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:51 PM, 07/06/2009
    The receptionist at the BRT last month hung up on me when I asked her to transfer me to the person in charge of assessments while another employee is on leave. Hung up. After yelling that she "didn't know" who that was.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:54 PM, 07/06/2009
    Nutter's people are talented and educated. They can read, write, and answer phones. They can also type, use spreadsheets, databases, and powerpoint. They know and can use MS Office Suite, for example. They can use their phone system and transfer calls, and don't hang up on people. They return phone calls, and reply to emails. They refer you to the appropriate person to answer your question, and not one of Nutter's people has ever screamed at me. The ones that don't fit the above description are all members of the city employee non-uniformed unions. Who are we kidding?
    — CleanupPhilly


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About The Philly Clout Team
PhillyClout
Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999. He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns.
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics ­– which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002 and has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. After covering the 2007 mayoral election, she moved over to the City Hall bureau where she has been reporting on the Nutter administration.
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans.
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Catherine Lucey
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