TO:   ALL DIA MEMBERS
SUBJECT:   TENTATIVE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT
DOWNLOAD PROPOSED AGREEMENT

On December 14, 2015, your Executive Board and Collective Bargaining Committee reached a tentative contract with the City

subject to the membership’s ratification. The terms of this agreement begin on page 2. Information about retroactive pay is on page 4. For the reasons below and those set forth on page 5, the Board and Bargaining Committee strongly recommend that you vote to approve this tentative agreement.

As you are aware, we were to begin interest arbitration last month to attain the last two 4% raises we never had an opportunity to negotiate, because the Bloomberg Administration wanted us to pay for these raises while no other unit had to. In addition, the City took the position that they were not joint employers with the DAs of our members; this resulted in administrative and court litigation that delayed the interest arbitration process for approximately 2 years.

Once the de Blasio administration took office things started to move but not at the speed we would have liked. We requested that PERB appoint an interest arbitrator to resolve our contract negotiations, and ultimately Howard Edelman was appointed as the neutral panel member. Dates were selected for hearings in November and December but the City requested cancellation of the November dates. Arbitrator Edelman granted the City’s request over the DIA’s strenuous objections. The City then requested that the December dates be used to attempt to resolve our contract using Arbitrator Edelman as a mediator. We met with the City and Arbitrator Edelman on December 10th and again on December 14th. We now have tentative terms for a successor contract.

Our goal was to procure a contract that achieved the same monetary increases as the uniform settlements, ensure raises and mobility for new members, and increase longevity pay in order to stop the attrition of our members leaving for other investigative positions. We were also mindful that the recent PBA arbitration award adheres to the uniform pattern of four 1% raises followed by raises of 1.5%, 2.5% and 3%. Finally, we had to obtain the two 4% increases almost everyone else achieved in 2010 and 2011.

While it has taken a very long time, the following tentative agreement achieves the same raises as the uniformed unions in the current round and the two 4% raises from the prior round, albeit in the same pattern as other recent contracts which were in the same position as we were because the Bloomberg administration refused to pay the two 4% increases.

TENTATIVE AGREEMENT

1. Term: January 16, 2010 through March 18, 2019. (In order to ensure that as many 211- waiver members who retired or left will receive retroactive pay, the end date of the contract may have to be moved approximately one month later.)

2. Wage Increases:

Total compounded wage increases of 20.6%.

3. Longevity Pay: Currently there is $1,500 longevity pay at 10 years. Effective February 16, 2016, longevity pay will increase as follows:
15 years from $1,500 to $2,500
20 years from $1,500 to $3,500

4. Ratification Bonus: There will be a $4,000 lump sum cash payment for fulltime employees payable as soon as practical upon ratification, which shall be pensionable consistent with applicable law.

Since the total of the monetary changes are above the civilian and uniform patterns, the following contractual modifications have been tentatively agreed upon to fund the changes:

5. Salary Schedule: There will be a new salary schedule for any one hired in the title of Rackets Investigator effective on or after July 16, 2016:

6. Annual Leave: For employees hired on or after February 16, 2016, the annual leave allowance shall accrue as follows:

7. Welfare Fund: Effective February 16, 2016, the City’s welfare fund contribution will be decreased by $50.00 per employee (active and retiree) per year. This is the same as what the DEA did in their agreement.

8. Firearms Training: Two firearm training days will occur on annual leave days. This means the annual leave days for incumbents will be deducted for each training day.

9. Night Shift Differential: Effective February 16, 2016, night shift differential pay will be eliminated. Since not all members receive this compensation because they are not scheduled to work during the night hours, we moved the funding of night shift differential so that all members will benefit.

10. Rescheduling: Effective February 16, 2016, each employee may be rescheduled five times per year without overtime compensation in accordance with Article 9 Section 3(d) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

11. Health Savings: We are part of the MLC agreement for health savings.
RETROACTIVE PAY
The following information is based on the City’s calculation of our members’ annual salary as of January 15, 2010, the last day of the expired contract ($67,705). The amounts are estimates that are based on the monies due as if paid on February 16, 2016. If you make more the numbers indicated will be higher; if you make less they will be lower.

*This amount represents 12.5% of the retroactive pay from the two 4% raises
In addition, the remaining retroactive pay will be paid as follows:

12/16/17   12.5%
12/16/18    25%
12/16/19   25%
12/16/20   25%.

Any member who retired between January 16, 2010 and June 30, 2014 will receive their retroactive pay through a retiree claims settlement fund, in the amount of $420,985. This fund will distribute the retroactive pay to the retirees by utilizing an agreed upon formula. Any member who retired after June 30, 2014 will receive their retroactive pay in accordance with the above schedule (12.5% on 12/16/15; 12.5% on 12/16/17; 25% on 12/16/18; 25% on 12/16/19; and 25% on 12/16/20).

Individuals who have received 211-waivers and who have separated from service with 20 or more years of service shall receive lump sum payments upon agreement to fund such payments.

The parties will also establish a Labor Management Committee to discuss the issue of promotion from Rackets Investigator to Senior Rackets Investigator.

WHAT THIS TENTATIVE AGREEMENT MEANS:

This tentative agreement provides:

1. The same wage increases as the uniform pattern.

2. A ratification bonus of $4,000, which is more than any other union’s ratification bonus. This bonus effectively provides more than what is needed to move the first 1% raise back to the first day of the current round, and is also pensionable. This ratification bonus is more than both the uniform and civilian patterns.

3. Longevity pay increases of $1,000 for those of our member with 15 years of service and $2,000 for those of our members with 20 years of service. This is clearly above the pattern and was not achieved by any other union in the current round.

4. Retroactive pay to our retirees and saves the retroactive pay for those members who had 211-waivers with 20 years of employment. This is more than any other union received that obtained the last two 4% increases after the Bloomberg administration left.

To obtain these increases, we agreed to:

A.   A new salary schedule for new hires effective July 16, 2016, and a new vacation schedule for new hires effective February 16, 2016.

B.   Move the night shift differential pay which only benefitted a few members; those funds will now benefit all members.

C.   Reschedule 5 tours a year without overtime pay.

D.   The same welfare contribution as the DEA.

E.   Go to the range on 2 annual leave days each year.

We could not have obtained these wage and other monetary increases if we went to interest arbitration under PERB. Our tentative contract helps solve the attrition problem and provides money for the more senior members. It is substantially paid for by those that will be hired on or after July 16, 2016. We received the same increases as the police. For all of these reasons, your Executive Board and Bargaining Committee strongly recommend that you vote to approve this tentative agreement.