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Update May 4, 2010

(James Hennerty, CSEA Deputy Director of Contract Administration, May 4, 2010)

Governor Patterson today announced that he will attempt to furlough State Executive Branch employees one day a week, beginning May 17, until a budget is enacted. Although he did not say this today, last week his intention was that furloughs would not apply to employees of the UCS. We continue to monitor the situation.

The Governor also announced his proposal for an early retirement incentive. CSEA is reviewing it. The Legislature would have to pass this bill for it to take effect. Stay tuned for further developments.

Updates

(James Hennerty, CSEA Deputy Director of Contract Administration, April 29, 2010)

1. The Governor is withholding payment of the 4% pay raise to Executive Branch State employees, but he is NOT doing so to UCS employees. My understanding is that our members in the courts have received the 4%.

2. The Governor is proposing to furlough Executive Branch State employees one day a week as long as there is no budget. He is NOT proposing to do that for UCS employees.

3. UCS is NOT paying its required contributions to the court employee part of the Employee Benefit Fund. The Governor has not proposed any appropriations to cover the EBF contributions for the Executive Branch nor for the Judiciary. We are filing a grievance with UCS about this. Naturally, UCS is dependent on the dollars the Governor has, until a budget is enacted. We are officially complaining to UCS, but it is really the Governor's actions which are causing this problem for court employees.

4. The NY Law Journal reports on cuts to the proposed UCS budget today. Apparently, the doubling of the expense fund for judges is dead, although Judge Pfau wants to take some money from the reduced budget and use it for that.

5. The most dangerous thing right now for CSEA-represented UCS employees is the refusal to pay the Benefit Fund. If nothing is done to stop that, the EBF will run out of money pretty quickly, and it will have to shut down. Our members will be unable to have the Fund pay for anything.

WHAT CAN WE DO???

Please get every one of your members to contact their State Assembly Member and State Senator and urge them to get a budget done, which will include full funding for the EBF. The more voters they hear from, the more likely it is that they will settle this whole mess without hurting us.

Latest Update on Raises

(James Hennerty, CSEA Deputy Director of Contract Administration, April 19, 2010)

The latest news we have is that the Governor has submitted an emergency spending bill to cover the State while there is no budget. It covers the payday of April 28, the first in which court employees are scheduled to receive pay based on salaries 4% greater than the last fiscal year. As we read this bill, employees of the State in the Executive Branch will continue to be paid WITHOUT the 4% raise, but non-judicial employees in UCS are to be paid WITH the 4% included.

We believe this is the way it will be come payday, but in the current atmosphere of fiscal crisis, anything is possible.

Update on Raises

(James Hennerty, CSEA Deputy Director of Contract Administration, April 15, 2010)

There is no substantial change in the situation from our last report. As far as we know the Governor will submit an emergency spending bill on Friday which will provide the 4% raise for court employees, but not for Executive Branch employees. That could change, so stay tuned.

The newspapers reported yesterday that a retirement incentive plan is slated to be part of the completed budget, but details are scarce. Reports say that there will be two parts to the incentive. First, those in Tiers 2-4 will be able to retire without penalty if they are at least 55 years old and have at least 25 years of service. It is thought that eligible employees will be able to do this without management consent. The second part will be offers to targeted employees (those filling positions management feels it can do without) which would increase service credit by one month for each year of service, up to a maximum of 36 months.

Please note that this is all speculative, and any proposals will have to survive the larger battle over the budget deficit.

4% Raise

(Submitted by James Hennerty, CSEA Deputy Director of Contract Administration, April 12, 2010)
Court employees are scheduled to have a 4% salary increase effective April 1. So are State employees in the Executive Branch. But there is no State budget in place to pay for raises or much of anything else. While the powers that be work on finishing the budget, the Governor has the Legislature pass emergency spending bills on a weekly basis to enable State funds to flow to essential operations.

The Governor is NOT allowing payment of the 4% raise to Executive Branch State employees until a budget is in place. (He also wants CSEA and PEF to give up the 4% permanently, although he needs us to agree to that.) It is not yet known if he will authorize an appropriation for the 4% for court employees or not. We will know when he submits next week's emergency bill. If the bill does not contain the raise, the governor says it will be paid when a budget is in place.

Please continue checking in to this website for further developments.

COURT OFFICERS - EXECUTION OF BENCH WARRANTS

(Submitted by James Hennerty, CSEA Deputy Director of Contract Administration)
CSEA Political Action advises that the Governor signed into law on March 24th a bill giving all Court Officers throughout the State the authority to execute bench warrants. The new law becomes effective May 24th, 60 days after the new law was signed.

"In Retirement"

(Submitted by Former Statewide Rep. Tom Jefferson, now retired, Feb. 22, 2001)

I know the activists have heard and continue to experience the questions and answers often asked by membership and a lot of the questions come without reflection. Once State workers retire, an opportunity exists for them to reflect upon their work history, the benefits and salary increases that you have enjoyed as a result of the collective effort of your union activists.

I started 39 years ago when the only benefit received was an occasional pay raise and a health insurance program, so I write this quiz in the hope of enlightening some who still question why I pay union dues or what does the union do for me or why can't you do more?

Start by asking yourself, Do I compare car prices when shopping?

1. Do you have a dental program provided by your employer or union?
2. Do you have an annual vision program, one that supplies glasses?
3. Do you have a health plan?
4. Do you have a health plan that follows you into retirement?
5. Can you accumulate sick leave from year to year? How much?
6. Do you have accumulated sick leave that can be used to offset health insurance premiums in retirement?
7. Do you have a prescription drug program?
8. Does it follow you into retirement?
9. Do you have a legal program?
10. Does it follow you into retirement?
11. Does your friend have a job that is relatively immune from layoffs and downsizing?
12. Are you allowed to accumulate vacation from year to year?
13. Do you get annual sick leave?
14. Are you allowed to carry it over from year to year?
15. Can the sick leave days unused pay for your health insurance premiums in retirement?
16. Does your friend get twelve holidays with pay? If not, how many?
17. Do you have a sick leave bank?
18. Do you know what a sick leave bank is?
19. Can he donate some of his accumulated time on the job to help out a sick friend?
20. Does he get regular pay raises?
21. Does your friend get increments and longevity bonuses on top of pay raises?
22. How much vacation time do you get? What is the maximum?
23. Do you have a union that fights to get new benefits? How much are your dues?
24. Will your union assist you if you get into a job dispute?

If the person you ask responds with mostly NAYS, then take a moment and reflect and say thanks to your union activist. I know I do!

You control your future…if you are that unhappy, make a career move! Watch out what you wish for!

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT FUND ENHANCEMENTS

(Jim Hennerty, Dep. Director of Contract Administration, July 30, 2009)

On July 29th, the CSEA Unified Court System local presidents were briefed by the representatives of the CSEA Employee Benefit Fund (EBF) on some exciting changes affecting both full-time and part-time UCS employees.

Both the full-time and part-time employees received increases to the fee schedules for their respective dental plans effective July 1, 2009. These increases in the schedules may translate into less out of pocket costs for you. Increases were applied to exams, periodontal treatment, cleanings, bridges, crowns, root canal therapy, fillings, dentures, extractions, radiographs and orthodontics. Because of the changes to orthodontics, the lifetime maximum was also increased from $2580 to $2948 for full time employees, and the orthodontic maximum for part-time employees went from $1950 to $2601. As a result of the changes to the dental plans, new benefit books have been mailed out to all employees and information is also available on the CSEA EBF's newly redesigned website, www.cseaebf.com.

The second enhancement applies to the co-pay reimbursement benefit. On July 21, 2009, Chairman Danny Donohue and the EBF Trustees approved the physician and prescription drug co-pays to be combined and increased to a maximum $325 reimbursement annually. Any reimbursement request that has already been submitted for the current year is being reviewed and a letter sent to the member stating that they may submit for the higher reimbursement. In a separate mailing, all UCS covered employees will be advised of the details of this enhanced benefit.

Should you have any questions, please contact the CSEA EBF at 1-800-323-2732.

CSEA AGREES TO UCS SEPARATION PAYMENT PROPOSAL

(Jim Hennerty, Dep. Director of Contract Administration, July 7, 2009)
CSEA has agreed to the UCS proposal on a Separation Payment. As noted already, UCS would have the sole discretion to target specific positions and offer $20,000 to employees in those jobs to leave State service. For judicial districts 3-8, offers to targeted positions will be made based on seniority on a county basis, with the exception of the Analyst series, where offers will be made based on bargaining unit, jurisdiction (county), function and then seniority. Offers will begin to be generated on July 8, 2009 (through July 28) on a rolling basis via overnight mail and through Groupwise. Employees who are offered the payment are under no obligation to take it and will have seven calendar days to respond. The payment would be subject to taxation and would not be added into salary.

Naturally, this is a difficult decision to make, and employees will have little time to decide. CSEA urges members who are faced with the choice to ask UCS for all possible details of how such an offer would affect them if they take it, especially in regard to health insurance coverage and other benefits.

CSEA CONSIDERING BUYOUT OFFER FOR COURT WORKERS

(This information provided by CSEA Headquarters in Albany, 6/25/09)
"ALBANY — CSEA is reviewing a proposal from the state Unified Court System to offer a separation from service payout similar to what has been offered to executive branch workers. The court system is attempting to shed payroll and would target the positions to be voluntarily vacated. Workers would need to take the offer before close of business on Sept. 2, 2009. The court system would have complete discretion to identify the titles and the number of positions in each title and jurisdiction that will be targeted for the cash payment. In areas where there are more employees in the same bargaining unit, title and jurisdiction than the number of positions that have been identified to receive the payment, the offers would be made to eligible employees in seniority order beginning with the most senior workers. For purposes of the cash payout, seniority is defined as the first date of hire in the court system. Where an employee’s total separation cost (cash payment and the payout of accruals) does not yield a savings in fiscal year 2009-2010, the employee will not be eligible for the cash payment and the court system will move to the next eligible employee in seniority order."

"This is not an early retirement incentive and CSEA has not yet chosen to participate in the payout offer. As this edition went to press, CSEA was still reviewing the proposal. If CSEA were to adopt the payout offer, offers to employees from the Personnel Office would be generated beginning on July 8. The offers sent from UCS to payout candidates would include instructions on how to accept the offer."

UPDATES, March 18, 2009

(Donald Lynskey, Local 334 President)

SALARY INCREASES & INCREMENTS
CSEA has been informed that the salary increases and increments will be in the April 29th, 2009 paycheck.

SENIOR COURT REPORTER EXAM RESULTS
UCS has found that the computers used in calculating the scores for both the open competitive & promotional Senior Court Reporter exams given last April made some sort of grading error. The faulty lists have been withdrawn by UCS. No appointments have been made from the faulty lists to date. The old lists will continue to be used for the time being. UCS expects to have the corrected lists established "within the next several weeks."

"CONFIDENTIAL" EMPLOYEES
"This is just a reminder about court employees who are designated 'confidential.' UCS designates many non-competitive and some exempt employees with this label. Legally, any employee who is in a confidential position has NO disciplinary due process rights and has NO layoff rights. ALL Court Analyst titles are non-competitive and confidential. That means anyone who is a Junior Court Analyst, Court Analyst, Senior, principal, or whatever kind of Court Analyst can be dismissed or disciplined without charges and a hearing. If there were to be layoffs, no Analyst would have any seniority to use in the layoff process.

"Please remember that other job titles are non-competitive but NOT confidential. Those employees do not have disciplinary or layoff rights for their first five years in non-competitive service, but once they have five years they DO get these rights.

"I know this gets very complicated, but it is important to remember that any 'confidential' employee can be dismissed summarily."
(Source: Jim Hennerty, CSEA Dep. Director of Contract Administration)

CSEA LEGAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM - FIREARMS ENHANCEMENT
As announced in the latest edition of the CSEA newspaper "The Workforce," CSEA has introduced a pilot program to provide legal services to CSEA-represented employees who carry firearms as part of their job. In the event of an occurrence where the member needs legal assistance based on the use of a firearm or other use of force in the line of duty, legal assistance is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our CSEA Region 5 attorney is Edward Dunn, Esq., of Syracuse. See the document below for more information. You may contact the CSEA Legal Department at 1-800-342-4146, extension 1443 for further questions or comments.
CSEA Legal Pilot Program - Firearms

EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT
You've undoubtedly heard of the Employee Free Choice Act, proposed federal legislation that gives workers more freedom to join unions and limits an employer's ability to intimidate workers trying to join a union. If you would like to learn more about this important legislation, go to www.csealocal1000.org to view a video that explains in further detail the background of the legislation.

CSEA's PESH COMPLAINT UPHELD

(February 19, 2009, Kathy Guild, Contract Administration Specialist)

CSEA was successful in getting a Public Employee Safety & Health Bureau (PESH) complaint against the Unified Court System sustained. This complaint was filed because there are holes and depressions, some of which are improperly covered and an electrical outlet causing a tripping hazard in the UCS Print Shop on the 9th Floor of 25 Beaver Street, along with various other violations. These violations caused a CSEA-represented employee to be injured and represented serious safety hazards to the employees of the Print Shop. PESH has given UCS until March 12, 2009 to abate the violations.

LEGAL ASSISTANCE PILOT PROGRAM

(February 18, 2009, Kathy Guild, Contract Administration Specialist)

CSEA has instituted a pilot program to provide legal services to all CSEA members who carry firearms as part of their job requirements for certain job-related incidents requiring legal counsel. Under this pilot, CSEA-provided representation to a CSEA member involved in the use of force will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A list of CSEA Legal Assistance Pilot Program Attorneys and further information regarding this pilot will be published in the CSEA Work Force. Contact your CSEA local president if you have any questions or need additional information.

ELECTRONIC RECORDING

(February 18, 2009, Kathy Guild, Contract Administration Specialist)

The Office of Court Administration, with input from the affected unions, has developed a new policy for electronic recording of court proceedings. This policy has three main tenets. First, electronic recording may continue in those courts and court proceedings where it is currently in use. Second, court reporters are to be used in Family Court juvenile delinquency proceedings unless it is impractical for operational or fiscal reasons to do so. Third, in specified courts and court proceedings where electronic recording is not in use, court reporters will continue to be used unless reporters are unavailable and efforts to hire a reporter on a permanent, provisional or per diem basis has failed.

COURT OFFICER LEGISLATION

(December 23, 2008, James Hennerty, Dep. Director of Contract Administration)
The Governor has vetoed S.5565, which would have made Court Officers police officers (Veto # 180). He says most CO's are never called on to perform purely police functions. He also says it would cost money for additional training and that more expense for binding interest arbitration would not be far behind.
(December 23, 2008, James Hennerty, Dep. Director of Contract Administration)
The Governor’s proposed budget would, among other things, depend on savings to the State by NOT paying the 3% raise employees are due next April; by DEFERRING (lagging) five days of pay from State employees; by increasing the premiums paid for health insurance in retirement by State employees who have fewer years of service than the average; and by eliminating State reimbursement of Part B premiums to active and retired employees who must pay it to retain Medicare.

If some or all of these ideas are not agreed to by the unions and/or the Legislature, the Governor and Legislature would have to come up with money equal to these savings in order to balance the budget.

The feeling is that the Governor might very well make up the difference by lots of layoffs of State employees. He cannot lay off UCS employees, but if the final budget cuts UCS funding a great deal, UCS could possibly also lay off employees.

COURT REPORTER MINUTE AGREEMENT FORM

(December 23, 2008, Donald Lynskey, Local 334 President)
Despite repeated requests over many weeks asking that UCS produce a new Court Reporter Minute Agreement Form, we still have not received one. I have attached the latest CSEA-UCS Minute Agreement Form (MAF) from 2003, which the UCS Labor Relations Department has confirmed is accurate with regard to our newly enacted rates effective 11-18-08. This is NOT a UCS-distributed document, although their office did create this document back in 2003 when we were negotiating these same issues. All of the information is accurate and up to date on this form. Our CSEA-represented reporters may want to use this form, until eventually UCS may distribute a MAF to both UCS management and reporters. Once again, reporters are to retain the form themselves. Do not turn them over to management. In an earlier notice, a two-year retention period was mentioned, based on a UCS memo from one of the Judicial Districts. Please disregard that directive. At this time, we have not determined with UCS how long the retention period will be. You will be informed once that is determined.
View CSEA Minute Agreement Form effective 11-18-08

CO-PAY REIMBURSEMENTS

(December 23, 2008, Donald Lynskey, Local 334 President)
A reminder that CSEA EBF co-pay reimbursements must be submitted by 3/31/09 for the 2008 calendar year. Physician office co-pays are reimbursable up to $125 and Prescription Drug co-pays are reimbursable up to $100. The form is available on our web site, under the "Forms & Member Services" link.

Court Reporter Page Rates

(December 12, 2008, Donald Lynskey, Local 334 President)
The new Court Reporter Page Rate Agreement and Minute Agreement Form have been deemed to be effective as of November 18, 2008, the date upon which the Administrative Board of the Courts approved the change and Part 108 of the Rules of the Chief Administrator was amended. CSEA would have liked a smoother transition to the new rates, so that our members did not have to deal with "retroactive" negotiation of page rates, but UCS nonetheless has specified November 18th as the date of implementation. All CSEA members received a copy of the new agreement with the ratification materials included in the ratification process earlier this year. CSEA-represented reporters must still complete the new Minute Agreement Forms for private party transactions, but reporters now retain the forms themselves for a two-year period. In the event a request is made of a reporter for production of a Minute Agreement Form, that request must be in writing stating a valid reason for the request. If a reporter feels the reason for the request is inappropriate, please contact your union representative as there is a committee in place to review requests, if necessary.
CSEA-UCS 2008 Court Reporter Page Rate Agreement

NYSHIP Rates

(December 12, 2008, James Hennerty, Dep. Director of Contract Administration)
NYSHIP recently mailed to employees a brochure listing its new rates and transfer deadlines. You may have noticed that CSEA-represented employees in the Executive Branch and all UCS employees pay a slightly higher premium for the Empire Plan. The reason for that difference is that other unions agreed to put limits on the list of drugs which the Empire Plan covers, while CSEA insisted on retaining eligibility for all drugs approved by the FDA.

Better Choices

Click on the following link to review CSEA's "Better Choices" flyer regarding addressing the budget crisis in New York State.
View Better Choices Flyer

CSEA-UCS CONTRACT RATIFIED

(June 25, 2008)
CSEA members by a 25-to-1 ratio have overwhelmingly ratified a tentative agreement with the Unified Court System. Members approved the agreement by 2,876 to 114.

The four-year pact, retroactive to April 1, 2007, includes salary increases in every year of the agreement, improved downstate and mid-Hudson Valley location pay, enhancements in longevity bonuses for long term employees, improved payments to the Employee Benefit Fund and Labor-Management programs and increases funding for body armor for security personnel. There were no significant changes to health insurance provisions.

Ratification ballots were counted June 25.

Contract Update

(As posted on the CSEA Web Site, www.csealocal1000.org, May 8, 2008)

"CSEA Reaches Contract Settlement for 6,000 Court Employees Across New York"

CSEA - New York's Leading Union - has reached a tentative agreement with the New York State Office of Court Administration on a new contract covering more than 6,000 non-judicial employees in the state's Unified Court System.

"CSEA and the Unified Court System have reached a fair and responsible agreement that recognizes the value and importance of the court employees who make the system work every day," said CSEA President Danny Donohue. "These were challenging negotiations and I am extremely proud of the focus and commitment of the CSEA bargaining team."

The four-year agreement retroactive to April 1, 2007 includes salary increases in every year of the agreement, improved downstate and Mid-Hudson Valley location pay, enhancements in longevity bonuses for long-term employees, improved payments to the Employee Benefit Fund and Labor-Management programs and increased funding for body armor for security personnel. There were no significant changes to health insurance provisions.

Across-the-board cost of living adjustments are as follows:
* April 1 2007 - 3 percent or $950, whichever is greater (retroactive);
* April 1, 2008 - 3 percent or $975, whichever is greater (retroactive);
* April 1, 2009 - 3 percent or $1,000, whichever is greater; and
* April 1, 2010 - 4 percent or $1,025, whichever is greater.

CSEA also agreed to a salary increase deferral for employees earning more than $115,000 annually until a judicial pay raise is enacted. Employees at or above that level will have their salaries held harmless but will receive the contract provisions once the judicial pay raise issue is resolved. If it is not resolved by the end of the contract, the employees will receive all of the contract cost of living adjustments retroactively. This issue would affect about 500 individuals out of the bargaining unit's 6,000 members.

CSEA-represented court employees work in a range of non-judicial jobs, from court clerks to clerical and administrative staff to security officers in the court system in every part of New York.

Additional details about the agreement will be posted on the CSEA website www.csealocal1000.org shortly. The agreement will be presented to the CSEA rank and file members for review and ratification in the weeks ahead. It must also be approved by the state legislature and signed by the governor.
[Editor's note: Additional details will also be available here at the CSEA Judiciary web site, www.cseajudiciary.org]

Negotiations Update

(James Hennerty, Dep. Director of Contract Administration, May 7, 2008)

CSEA and UCS have made a tentative agreement on a new contract for 2007-2011. The deal includes increases in compensation, location pay, and other benefits. More details will follow once final wording is agreed upon.

2008 Empire Plan Changes

Click on the following link to review the Empire Plan changes that will begin in 2008 and beyond.
View 2008 Empire Plan Changes

Appellate Division Kills Lawsuit on Court Clerks

(December 18, 2006, James Hennerty, Dep. Director of Contract Administration)

The Appellate Division, Third Department, effectively killed the CSEA lawsuit disputing UCS's decision to change its mind and not reclassify Court Clerks to Senior Court Clerks when Court Officers provide security. The Justices insist that the peace officer status of Clerk titles in the downstate area does provide a "back-up security" force that makes them different from upstate Clerks. The fact that that belief is completely untrue does not seem to have penetrated the judicial mindset.

The Court also pooh-poohed the Civil Service Law mandate that the State give equal pay for equal work, questioning the ability to enforce it, and saying that the State can violate the policy in some cases. This is the kind of "reasoning" that makes the public think judges are irrational, arbitrary, and capricious!

There will probably not be an appeal of the decision. We would need Court of Appeals permission to appeal, and they are not going to find against the Chief Judge and Chief Administrative Judge, their bosses. CSEA will work on new strategies to address this ongoing problem.

NYSHIP Lawsuit

(November 22, 2006, James Hennerty, Dep. Director of Contract Administration)

CSEA began a lawsuit earlier this year disputing New York State's decision to make our members pay for the cost of Medicare Part B premiums for retired employees. Previously, the State and local governments (for those in the NYS Health Insurance Plan) paid for the cost of the Part B premiums. CSEA contends that the change violates the Civil Service Law and is a change in terms of employment without negotiations, and a violation of the Health Insurance articles of the various CSEA-NYS Contracts.

State Supreme Court in Albany County ruled that CSEA was wrong and NYS right. We appealed.

The Appellate Division of Supreme Court, Third Department, has UNANIMOUSLY overruled Supreme Court and agreed with CSEA 100%! We expect the State to request the highest court, the Court of Appeals, to reconsider the matter. In the meantime, it looks like NYS may not get away with this cost-shifting through a back door.

CSEA/UCS Sick Leave Bank, Its Origin & Purpose

(June 8, 2006, Robert Lorenc, Local 332 President and CSEA Statewide Board Judiciary Representative)

The CSEA/UCS Sick Leave Bank exists pursuant to an agreement between the parties dating back to February 8, 1994. The agreement was negotiated by a subcommittee appointed by CSEA, comprised of Tom Jefferson and Robert Lorenc, and a designee appointed by UCS, Robert Herrick. That agreement outlined in specific detail the intent, benefits, guidelines, and operational aspects of the Sick Bank. The agreement remained unchanged until the contract negotiations and collective bargaining agreement between UCS and CSEA agreed to on August 4, 2004 covering the contract period 2003-2007. The newly agreed to agreement, only slightly modified from the original, is printed in its entirety in the current contract as Appendix C, pages 99 thru 104. That printed agreement represents the proverbial "bible"governing the operational aspects of the bank.

In broad terms, the bank is administered by one representative each from UCS and CSEA. Each designee has veto power relating to any particular application, that is, an application requires two "yes" votes to be approved. The representatives are in more than frequent contact with each other reviewing applications. On occasion, the applicant is asked to submit additional medical documentation. All information in the application is strictly confidential, discussed neither with local management or local union representatives. Coverage to an applicant can be awarded for up to a year at either full- or half-time rate. Given the fact that medical conditions are not static and, hopefully, subject to improvement and change, grants are not made for extended periods of time. Rather, a grant of a mutually agreed to reasonable period of time is made and the applicant is encouraged to reapply as needed.

When reviewing an application, five criteria are utilized for evaluation purposes. Said criteria are: 1) length of service, 2) nature of the disability, 3) reasonable expectation of return to work, 4) attendance history record, and, 5)the maximum number of days that can or have been granted.

The bank cannot make retroactive grants to cover any lapsed periods wherein the employee is on off-payroll status. Thus, it is vitally important to have completed applications submitted well in advance of the expiration of total leave credits.

Employees transferring in from another union who were members of the former union's sick bank may apply to join the CSEA/UCS bank within sixty days of transfer. They must pay the initial full contribution charge. It is analogous to changing insurance carriers. Carrier B will not give you credit or a refund for what you paid to Carrier A. One would be expected to pay Carrier B's full charges for coverage.

The bank functions to serve in a fair and equitable fashion to applicants "in need." It also has an equally important mission, to shepherd and protect that precious commodity, the time paid into the bank by all of the members that have joined the bank. Since its inception and to date, the bank has been a huge joint labor/management success. Countless members /employees have been permitted to utilize the grants to get well and return to work, thus benefiting both labor and management.

CSEA/UCS Settle Court Reporter Improper Practice Charge

(June 6, 2006, Bob Dillon, CSEA Contract Administration Specialist)

CSEA and the UCS have settled an Improper Practice Charge filed by CSEA when the Courts unilaterally changed the Court Reporters Manual in relation to what material must be turned over when a Reporter leaves state service.

In a 2003 revision to the Manual, UCS stated that reporters, when leaving court service, may be required to turn over electronic notes and CAT (computer aided transcription) personal dictionaries to their supervisor for storage. This was a change from the previous practice, which required reporters to give to the UCS only the paper tapes of court proceedings transcribed by the reporter, since the tapes were the only material that the UCS supplied reporters with.

The modification unilaterally changed the terms and conditions of employment for court reporters, without notice or negotiation with CSEA.

CSEA immediately filed an Improper Practice Charge with the Public Employment Relations Board.

The settlement calls for reporters leaving State service to sign an affidavit agreeing to produce all transcripts requested after separation from service or, alternatively, to provide, on UCS-provided disks, a copy of electronic stenographic note files and CAT dictionary to UCS.

NEW YORK STATE SUPPORT MAGISTRATES SUE TO OBTAIN PAY BENEFITS PROMISED BY STATE UNIFIED COURT SYSTEM OVER FIVE YEARS AGO

(February 10, 2006, James Hennerty, Dep. Director of Contract Administration)

The Civil Service Employees Association, on behalf of New York's Support Magistrates, today announced the filing in Albany County Supreme Court of an Article 78 proceeding against the State of New York Unified Court System (UCS). The petition seeks to have rescinded the salary classification imposed by UCS in October 2005 as arbitrary and capricious, and requests that all Support Magistrates statewide be allocated on the salary grade JG-33.

In a Dec. 5, 2000 memorandum, UCS announced the completion of a review of various job titles and salaries, with Support Magistrates assigned a salary grade of JG-33. Despite the urging of the Support Magistrates since 2000, the UCS never implemented the Support Magistrates at the promised Grade 33, and contrary to its own study and classification plans, UCS implemented the Support Magistrates at a Grade JG-31 in October 2005.

"We have exhausted all remedies available to us," said Thomas Gordon, a CSEA Local 333 activist who is also president of the New York State Support Magistrates Association. "This is an issue of fairness and equity. With the filing of this petition, Support Magistrates are only seeking what was promised to us by UCS in 2000. The Grade 31 allocated to us in October 2005 is grossly inappropriate because it fails to recognize essential substantive differences between magistrates and other non-judicial legal employees of the State court system. The Grade 33 promised five years ago does recognize those essential differences."

Family Court Support Magistrates are empowered under the Family Court Act to hear and decide child and spousal support and paternity proceedings. Support Magistrates handle approximately 48 percent of the cases filings in Family Court each year. Two-thirds of the salary of each Support Magistrate is reimbursed to the state by the federal government.
(Note: There are approximately 100 Support Magistrates.)


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