Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef and leaders of the Rockland Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) today announced they have reached a tentative labor agreement. The CSEA is the county’s largest labor union with close to 2,200 employees.
“For many months we have been negotiating with the CSEA,” said Vanderhoef. “I am pleased that we were finally able to reach an agreement that I believe benefits the County, the employees and the taxpayers of Rockland County. We have taken many critical steps this year to improve the County’s finances and settling this contract is an important piece of that overall plan. I’d like to thank the CSEA leadership for working with us and recognizing the challenges that we
“We are pleased to have reached what we feel is a fair contract given the current fiscal climate,” said CSEA Southern Region President Billy Riccaldo. “Through a respectful, collaborative process, we reached an agreement that achieves needed savings and preserves services for county residents while also offering needed job security for our members. I’d like to thank County Executive Vanderhoef for his commitment to wrapping up negotiations. I’d also like to extend my appreciation to the members of the CSEA Negotiating Committee and CSEA Chief Negotiator Larry Sparber for their hard work.”
“After many months of negotiations, we are happy to be able to bring a tentative agreement back to our members that we feel is fair to both taxpayers and the CSEA workforce,” said CSEA Rockland County Unit President P.T. Thomas. “We’ve said all along that meaningful savings could be achieved while preserving vital services and we feel this tentative contract does just that. We will be holding informational meetings with the CSEA membership to explain the details of the tentative agreement, after which the contract will go before the membership for a vote.”
The tentative agreement, which is retroactive to January 1, 2011 and runs through December 31, 2013, includes the following:
- A 15% health insurance contribution rate for new employees
- A salary and wage freeze through the life of the contract, with the exception of five year longevity increases or salary increases tied to job promotions
- Deferred payment for a total of 10 days work during certain periods in 2012 and 2013, with compensation for those days taking place on December 1, 2014
- Language preventing layoffs for budgetary reasons through the life of the contract
If the contract is ratified by the CSEA membership, it would then go to the County Legislature for final approval.
