October 26, 2007
Dear ALJ Members:
It has been a busy month for our newly formed chapter.
The ballots in the election to determine our negotiating committee representatives were counted on October 18th. As a result of the voting, the following ALJs have been elected to serve on the negotiating committee—Ethan Finneran (ECB/DOH), Sandra Frelix (TLC), Scott Kegelman (TLC/ECB), Jay Litwin (ECB/DOH), Linda March (ECB/TLC), Myra Michael (ECB/DOH), Andrea Pfeiffer (ECB/DOH), Christopher Stevens (ECB/DOH), and Neil Tolciss (ECB).
Our first committee meeting took place on Monday, October 22nd. During this meeting, there was discussion as to whether the composition of the committee was adequate to achieve our goal and promise of proportionately representing each of the three agencies. Toward that end, the committee has offered positions as non-voting alternates to Len Morton (ECB/TLC) and Wayne Greene (ECB/DOH), the nominees who received the next highest vote totals in the election.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the ALJs who previously served on the organizing committee, as well as the nominees and those who will now serve on the negotiating committee. Your support, as well as that of the entire membership, will be crucial to our upcoming contract campaign. We expect to begin formulating our bargaining demands at an upcoming committee meeting next week. If anyone has not completed our bargaining survey or has further ideas concerning our bargaining priorities, please feel free to communicate your thoughts to one of the committee members as soon as possible.
One of our goals as we move forward with the negotiation process is to provide a means for you, our members, to keep abreast of our progress and significant events affecting the chapter. In addition to informational mailings, the committee is considering various other means of keeping everyone informed, including a chapter website that we hope will be up and running shortly.
On another topic, an important first dialogue with the City’s Office of Labor Relations (OLR) took place on October 23rd in response to the UFT’s request for a meeting to clarify the long-rumored plans to restructure ECB. During this meeting, Administrative Justice Coordinator David Goldin outlined a two part proposal for governance changes at ECB, which in the long term would result in discontinuance of the agency and assignment of ECB’s caseload to a new division within OATH. He also responded to questions from the Union and several of your negotiating committee representatives on a variety of issues. Details of the proposal and notes from the meeting are included in this mailing.
On October 25th, a visible contingent of approximately twenty ALJs and UFT representatives made its presence felt at the ECB Board Meeting in order to hear David Goldin’s first public presentation of his proposal. Suffice to say that his plan was less than warmly embraced by several outspoken members of the Board, which ultimately would be dissolved upon elimination of the agency. Mr. Goldin was questioned about his lack of communication with ECB employees over the last few months regarding the impending changes, and cited the UFT’s representation petition and subsequent union election as reasons that he had been unable to have “conversations about the terms and conditions” for ALJs. He also indicated that he expects a draft of the City Council legislation, which is required for the interim phase of his proposal, to be completed within the next week or so.
The UFT will continue to closely monitor developments on all fronts and take any actions appropriate as your certified bargaining representative to protect your rights. You can be assured that you will have the full power of the UFT behind you as we begin this next phase of our work together.
In Solidarity,
Howard Schoor
Brooklyn Borough Representative
CC: Randi Weingarten, UFT President
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