Depending on the NYC Civil Service Job you’re pursuing, you will typically fall into one of two groups – management or collectively bargained (union).
There are several unions that support the collectively bargained employees within the city. The Service Employees International Union Local 246 supports the Auto Mechanics, Auto Service Workers, Rubber Tire Repairers, among other titles; the Stockworkers, School Safety Officers, certain members of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) are supported by the Teamsters Local 237 , and Staff Analysts are represented by the Organization of Staff Analysts . There are others too, such as the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), Communications Workers of America (CWA), etc. But the NYC Municipal Union serving the largest number of members is District Council 37 or DC37 for short.
Each union provides benefits and job protection for the members. DC37 is broken down into subsections, known as “Locals” which serve certain groups of employees. For example, Local 375 serves Engineers, Architects, Scientists, Chemists, Planners and other technical trades, Local 1087 serves “Prevailing Wage” employees like Exterminators, Locksmiths, Lead Abatement Workers, Radio Repair Mechanics,
and Local 2627 serves “NYC Electronic Data Processing Personnel” such as Computer Programmers, Computer Service Technicians, and Telecommunication Specialists.
Now, I’m not going to go into the positives, negatives or issues with unions, which will be fodder for future blog posts and discussions. And there is no shortage of opinions or stories of corruption and fixed elections . However, after coming from a non-union workforce in the private sector, I have to say, even with the problems, complaints, and corruption scandals that periodically pop up; I have done better with pay, job protection, and benefits thanks to the union.
Membership in the union is typically not optional, although there are particular opinions about that . I will be writing a post referring to a challenge taking place today in California with opinion and general information. Although a union in some cases protects poor performers or politically positions itself against some members’ political opinions, I think the good outweighs the bad. Most workers want to work and do a good job. And there are protections in many cases to remove non-performers. It may not be easy or pretty, but it can be done (maybe not all – but in many cases). Working for a bad boss in a non-union environment is hell – I know, I’ve been there. Twice.
I have also worked as a manager, without the benefits and protection of the union. However, as a means to provide collective support, the New York City Managerial Employees Association (NYCMEA or here referred to as the MEA) works to provide some level of assistance and support to NYC managers. They aren’t a union, and don’t provide any protections or directly negotiate contracts. However, they do advocate on behalf of all NYC managers, whether the managers support the MEA through payroll deductions or not.
NYC Managers typically follow the “pattern” of the union-obtained bargaining. However, this, sometimes, does not help improve the manager’s financial situation. Many managers are lower paid than their private-sector counterparts. They do not get overtime, no compensatory time (time off earned by staying after normal hours that can be used as paid time off or general leave time, also known as “Comp Time”). There are no “bonuses”, merit increases, or other cash or time benefits. Then the managers have to wait until the union negotiates a settlement, and then accept the offer whether they agree or not. Sometimes they may not receive a raise even though the union employees have.
Now, this sounds as if it’s bad to be a manager. Well, yes, if you’re salary is below average. Managers do have the Management Benefit Fund, or MBF, that provides benefits not offered by the union or are better (such as the vision plan and Health Club Reimbursement Program). Therefore it is crucial that when you are negotiating salary for a NYC Civil Service Job in a management title that you are satisfied with the offer. It is not realistic to think it will be corrected later on. There will not be a merit increase or “raise”. The MEA cannot help; they can only help influence future increases for all managers and hope that it will be more than the pattern. But I’ve never found that to be the case. If you are interviewing for a position you can ask if the job is for a manager title or a union title.
As you probably know, many of the NYC employee benefits are hard to come by in private sector environments. Whichever way you go – managerial or union – as an employee for the City of New York you will still be eligible for all of the benefits a NYC Civil Service Job provides.
Questions and Comments welcomed below.
Hi – How difficult is it to negotiate for a higher salary that is beyond the top range of the pay band? Is it worthwhile to find a lower paying job with union benefits? Not sure if the pace of raises for a union position might surpass the manager salary.
Hi Mel,
It might be possible to negotiate a higher salary BEFORE you take a NEW position (like a promotion). But I have rarely had any luck myself nor have I known anyone to get an increase within their title other than the periodic ones that follow the union raises (most of the time).
In my experience I found the union titles to be better over time. In many cases you would still be working as a manager although you are in a union title. This happened to me several times.
It sounds counter-intuitive – and we all would like to think we’re moving up – but I had it way better in a union title. I’ve had a few angry managers in management titles who would argue that the “union guys” are making more than them – and they were. They were also making more than me for the same amount of hours worked.
The only time the manager title is worth it would be for a significant increase over the union title. Remember, for the manager, in addition to the expectation of working over your scheduled time for free, you have to pay for a prescription drug rider, and you don’t have any union protection for issues that come up. As a manager we had to give up one small raise so DiBlasio could fund his family leave plan. We had no leverage because no union. The union workers gave up nothing. NYCMEA was useless.
Another thing to remember. If you want to increase your pay down the road you may have to “agency hop” too. Many managers I know had to move around from agency to agency to get any real increases.
Hope this helps somehow… good luck! – Chris