July 31 Meeting Report

Due to the difficulty of arranging a full bargaining session during the summer months, a “technical session” with smaller delegations for both sides was held on July 31, 2008. No new language was exchanged between the parties, but representatives from both sides informally discussed their positions on the proposals already on the table.

As a result of the discussion, certain areas of disagreement were clarified, which should help guide the course of the next negotiating sessions. As the discussions were agreed to be informal and nonbinding, they will only be summarized here.

The City explained why it preferred to use its boilerplate when the choice of language is one of form over substance. The UFT staff has started its analysis of the proposed language differences to determine what substantive impact, if any there would be by using City boilerplate as it exists in other City contracts

The City representatives also explained that some of our other proposals are actually not covered in other contracts, but exist in policies outside the terms of the collective bargaining agreements. It was suggested that the City might be willing to agree to include these proposals either in the contract or by separate side letters, provided the two sides had a meeting of the minds on all of the outstanding issues.

Last but not least, there was a philosophical discussion regarding the role of per session judges, their rights to entitlements and the need for managerial flexibility in staffing. This philosophical difference on how the City envisions our role, in comparison to our vision, goes to the heart of our negotiations. While we will continue to vigorously pursue those rights and benefits, we anticipate that these fundamental differences of perception will make an early culmination of the negotiations unlikely.

The parties are hoping to schedule the next session by mid-September. Further developments will be posted here.