1:30 PM, Friday, July 18, 2008
1606 Walnut Street

Introductions

For months, including his oft repeated pledges as a candidate for Mayor, Mayor Nutter has stated that “the City must negotiate contracts that are fair and reasonable for our public employees.”

He has stated that his “Administration has a high level of respect for the hard work done by City employees” and that he would “partner with those hard working employees to work on solutions to our City’s challenges.”

And, he called for “reform.”

The Mayor has repeatedly said that he rejects that “labor negotiations be a zero-sum battle where a Mayor must beat up on union members to ‘give up’ long fought for gains.”

The Mayor’s catchwords of honesty and transparency have culminated in his slogan, “A New Way. A New Day. “

Today, in the Mayor’s promise and spirit of fairness, honesty and transparency, we call for a Fair Day.

A New Day -- A Fair Day for all City employees.

Nine days ago, the Mayor was bubbling over in his praise of the new contract, the Award made public by a neutral, third-party arbitrator.

Mayor Nutter has been quoted as suggesting that the Police contract should “serve as a model” for the other unions.

He called the FOP Award a triple win. And, in response to questions on the issue of health care, the Mayor responded with these words. “The City will pay for the straight costs of health care – ‘nothing more, nothing less.’”

Today, AFSCME District Council is ready to accept the Mayor’s Contract Model – nothing more, nothing less.

We believe the Mayor’s promises, pledges and pronouncements to be his position. We take the Mayor at his word.

What is fair and reasonable for one set of city employees, as pronounced by a neutral arbiter and embraced by the Mayor, should be fair and reasonable for all hard working City employees.

I will make our decision known to the Mayor’s negotiating team, face-to-face, within the hour at a previously scheduled meeting.

While there are special contract needs that pertain to the police specifically, let’s walk through the major components of the FOP Award.

The FOP received a 4 percent raise. Nothing more, nothing less will suffice for our hard working employees.

The FOP received a 1 percent longevity increase. Longevity is another word for experience. In the Mayor’s words, nothing more, nothing less will do for the most knowledgeable and experienced AFSCME City employees.

On health benefits, AFSCME District Council 47 members are the only City employees who make a payroll contribution to their health care costs.

But, District Council 47 members will accept the Mayor’s statement on health care, that the City will pay all the straight costs, no more, no less.

Because we have a different health plan than do members of the Police, by covering all of DC 47 members health care costs, no more, no less, the City will enjoy a savings of $123.00 per member/per month less than their payment for the police. Over the course of one year, that amounts to a savings of $6,937,200.00 from what the police received.

On Pensions, we take the Mayor at his word and his contract offer to the Police. DC 47 will accept the addition of Option 4. As with the Police, nothing more, nothing less.

And, concerning the Mayor’s third requirement for the transparency of fairness, reform, I am very pleased to re-announce that DC 47 has already undertaken a major Wellness initiative that, as the Mayor requested, will benefit the health of our hardworking members and save the city money on overall health care costs.

Further, District Council 47 has already made the offer to join the Mayor’s new Joint Labor-Management Healthcare Evaluation Committee. We made that offer before the Police Award was made public.

In accepting the partnership that the Mayor has promised to all hard working city employees, we will have some issues that are specific to our members but those can be resolved in a matter of hours.

Thank you for attending. I will be happy to take any questions.