Astorino Rejects Tentative Contract Between WCC and Union

County Executive Rob Astorino Thursday rejected the recently agreed-to contract between Westchester Community College and the school’s Civil Service Employees Association union, he announced.

The proposed agreement was reached by the Board of Trustees of the community college and union, and, according to Astorino, calls for retroactive pay and increases that he says is too lucrative in these economic times.

“The fundamental flaw in this contract is that it grants millions of dollars in retroactive pay increases to employees for years they were receiving millions of dollars in free health care,” said Astorino in a statement. “At a time when taxpayers and students are both struggling, this kind of deal cannot be justified.”

A message to the CSEA seeking comment was not immediately returned Thursday.

Astorino’s opposition to the tentative agreement stems from “the fact it more than doubles the pay increases recommended by the neutral fact-finder brought in by the CSEA to assist in resolving a bargaining impasse with the members of the CSEA who work directly for the county.” If the terms of the WCC contract were applied to the county’s CSEA members, he states “the bill to taxpayers for just the current year, 2015, would be an additional $36 million; compared to $14 million under the fact-finder’s recommendation.”

Astorino is urging the two parties to return to the bargaining table to hammer out a new deal, even though the two sides already have been working on an agreement for years.

The tentative agreement approved by the WCC’s board and CSEA leaders covers Jan. 1, 2012, through Aug. 31, 2018, and calls for general wage increases for 300 CSEA members totaling 7 percent for the first four years, in addition to longevity payments, according to Astorino. In the final two years, employees would get a wage increase of $625 per year, as well as lump sum payments of $1,000 per year.

In contrast, the fact-finder involved in the negotiations with the county CSEA recommended wage freezes for the years 2012 and 2013, with 2 percent wage increases for 2014 and 2015, as well additional concessions to help offset some of the costs of the proposed agreement.

Lack of meaningful future health care contributions “was another budget buster,” according to Astorino. Since coming into office, Astorino has negotiated health care contributions for seven of the county’s eight unions, the only exception being CSEA.

To make his point, Astorino said the lowest health care contribution for 2015 is paid by the Teamsters, which is 12.5 percent of the health insurance premium. The average contribution across all seven of the contributing unions is nearly 15 percent of the premium for current employees, and most new hires pay nearly 20 percent of the health insurance premium.

The tentative agreement for CSEA members at WCC sets health care contributions at only 4 percent to 8 percent of health insurance premium beginning in 2016, and 10 percent to 15 percent for new hires, he said.

Astorino said the terms of the contract “put at risk the county’s ability to hold the line on tuition increases for WCC’s 24,000 students.” For the past three years, Astorino submitted operating and capital budgets for WCC that did not raise tuition rates. For the current school year, the County Sponsor Contribution is $29.15 million, an increase of $300,000 from the prior year.

In a statement, WCC officials said they did not anticipate a tuition increase as a result of the tentative contract.

“There are many complicated factors involved in contract negotiations. We collaborated with the County during this process,” said college officials. “Our analysis did not indicate the need for a tuition increase for our students. We look forward to further discussion with our employees and all parties on behalf of the County and the college.”

In a letter to Dr. Belinda Miles, the president of WCC, Astorino wrote, “While I continue to appreciate the services provided by CSEA members at Westchester Community College and your Administration’s interest in reaching an agreement, the proposal in its current form is unaffordable for County residents, unfair to other County employees and almost certainly guarantees the need to raise tuition for students. For these reasons, I am rejecting this agreement and urge the parties to return to the bargaining table to negotiate a contract that’s fair to all County employees and stakeholders.”