Report about our first negotiation session with the City

As scheduled, all nine members of the Negotiating Committee and one alternate member, along with our UFT representatives, sat down with representatives of the city for our first bargaining session on Wednesday April 2. Present for the city were several representatives each of the three agencies (DOH, ECB, TLC), as well as representatives from OLR, OATH, OMB and the Mayor’s Office. We presented written contract demands and, as expected, the OLR representatives indicated that they needed some time to review and develop their response to the comprehensive set of proposals that we have submitted. If anyone is interested in seeing a copy of the proposals, ask a member of the committee next time you see one, or e-mail us at newyorkcityaljs+negotiations@gmail.com.

ALJ CLE from OATH

On March 11, the Administrative Judicial Institute, a division of OATH, is offering a free CLE titled "New York City Administrative Law Judges: Practice and Career Perspectives". All the details can be found here: http://nyc.gov/html/oath/html/inst_training.html

They ask you to register by March 5th, so sign up soon.

And did I mention it's free?

City Council Update

On Wednesday, February 20th, Ethan Finneran and I, together with our two UFT organizers, met with two City Council staff members. This meeting arose as a result of the UFT's relationship with the City Council. Although the Council has its own agenda, it was clear that they are interested in the concerns of the ALJs.

The most significant point is that the UFT has enabled us to obtain a line of communication and influence in the legislative process. The Council staff was receptive to our concerns about any possible transfer of ECB to OATH.

We also learned that there is no bill drafted yet by the Council staff, and no bill has been presented for introduction to the Council. We were assured that we would be notified and consulted about any legislation that does get drafted.

It was also clear that the two Council staff members wanted as much detail as possible from us about the workings of ECB. Ethan and I presented, apparently for the first time, a more complete picture of ECB and an appreciation of the complexities involved in its operation.

-- Scott Kegelman

Update on Contract Negotiations

Last month the UFT sent a formal request to the city to begin contract negotiations. So far, we have not had a reply. However, the UFT negotiators tell us that this is not unusual, and that typically the city takes several months before beginning to negotiate. There is no formal deadline for a response from the city, but failing to reply after a long period of time could be seen as a failure to negotiate in good faith.

In the meantime, the Negotiating Committee is continuing to meet, keeping an eye on the ongoing changes at ECB and considering how these might alter our negotiating stance.

As always, we will keep the membership informed of any new developments.

OLR MEETING SUMMARY-- DECEMBER 12, 2007

MEETING SUMMARY

On December 12, 2007 and at the request of the City’s Office of Labor Relations (OLR), a meeting took place at OLR to update all concerned parties on future plans for ECB. The following were in attendance:

Present for UFT-- Howard Schoor, Ilene Weinerman, Scott Kegelman, Sandra Frelix
Present for OLR-- Richard Yates, Jean Brewer, Victor Levy
Present for the City/Management-- David Goldin, Carol Post, Joanne Weiss
Present for CSBA-- Ilene Shifrin, Gloria Johnson, Ann Biebel, Harry Vee
Present for OATH—Charles McFaul, Roberto Velez

David Goldin provided an overview of planned governance changes at ECB toward the goal of addressing speculation, questions, and concerns that have arisen among ALJs about the future of ECB. He expressed a desire to begin meeting with groups of ALJs, with union representatives present upon request, in order to disseminate this information and “allow people to feel comfortable”.

Goldin presented background information on ECB as well as its current governance structure. He also described the findings of the recently conducted operational assessment which, in his words, “identified a governance strategy and where we want ECB to go”. In summary, the assessment sets forth a rationale for governance changes based upon perceived needs to increase professionalism, improve customer service, integrate technology, and facilitate ECB’s independence from other agencies for which it renders decisions.

During the discussion, Goldin outlined a three step plan for implementation:

At the next ECB Board meeting on January 17, 2008, the Commissioner of DEP will delegate her position to the Chief ALJ at OATH. This will result in the appointment of a new Executive Director within ECB. According to Goldin, there will be no other changes to ECB at that time.

In spring 2008, legislation (now being drafted) will be introduced at the City Council proposing one change to section 1404 of the City Charter. This change will transfer oversight of ECB from DEP to OATH. As described by Goldin, ECB’s personnel, responsibilities, locations, and assignments will continue.

The third step will be introduction of state legislation in fall 2008 to discontinue ECB and assign responsibility for its cases to a newly created division within OATH. Goldin again indicated that the same ALJs, procedures, and offices would remain, with the following exceptions—
(1) Appeals will be handled by ALJs rather than the Board, and
(2) The balance of full time and part time ALJs may be “reassessed”.

With regard to the second point above, Goldin stressed that his goal is to have the “best, most professionally skilled core of ALJs based on the people that are there now”. Toward this end, he acknowledged that while full timers may provide “greater flexibility”, he also recognizes that many ALJs currently working part time might not be available to accept full time positions. In addition, he indicated that the impact of the current 1000 hour cap would eventually need to be discussed.

Upon conclusion of the presentation, the meeting was opened to questions. Representatives from CSBA declined to ask any questions, stating they did not wish to do so in an open forum.

Below are excerpts of Management’s responses to specific questions raised by the UFT:

Regarding the issue of the DEP Commissioner’s delegation of authority to the Chief ALJ at OATH—Goldin was specific in stating that it is a “permanent divestiture of authority” aimed at getting DEP “out of the business of running ECB”. He cited as the legal basis section 1404 of the City Charter, which grants Board members the power to delegate their functions and responsibilities.

At the UFT’s request, Goldin agreed to provide a copy of the legal opinion on this matter.

Regarding possible choices for the new Executive Director—Goldin reported that certain individuals are under consideration, but he is not prepared to divulge the names at this time.

Regarding changes likely to take place in the daily functioning of ECB—Goldin identified various advantages that governance by OATH might provide, including new technology and more creative recruitment/training options.

Regarding the optimum balance of full time and part time ALJs—Goldin indicated that this would have to be “systematically studied” with the effects of changes such as electronic case management taken into account; hence, he does not have enough information now to provide specific numbers.

Regarding the need for state legislation to complete the transfer of authority to OATH—Goldin indicated that such legislation would be necessary to allow statutorily for hearing officers who are not five year appointees, as set forth in section 1049 of the City Charter.

At the conclusion of the meeting, OLR indicated a willingness to respond to further questions or hold additional meetings as the need arises.

An update

The Negotiating Committee has been meeting almost every week since mid-October, and we have been wrestling with the issues that will face us as we sit down with management to negotiate a contract. We put together a rough draft of what we saw as the most important elements to be included in the first contract, and last week we sat down with the UFT's team of negotiators that will be representing us. They went over our proposal in great detail and sent us back to refine our ideas and to consider some of the realities of hammering out a contract with the city. One of the biggest challenges is to avoid unforeseen consequences; we don't want to enshrine a principle in the contract only to realize later that it harms our position.

We are meeting with the UFT's team again in mid-December to present them with a clearer idea of what we want. On some of our demands, they think we might be trying to have our cake and eat it, too. Personally, I'm a big proponent of eating cake, but their point is well taken. Our goal is to improve our position, to keep the best parts of our job while making sure that the worst parts are eliminated and that no one gets left out. It's hard work, but I'm confident that it will be worth the effort in the end.

TransitBenefit Program

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