Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375 has replaced
a merit pay plan at the School Construction Authority with a plan
that provides something for everyone.
An agreement signed in October will fundamentally alter a side letter
to the 1995-2000 contract for Unit A (Engineers, Arhitects and other
technical titles) and Unit C (Project Officers) that called for
a “performance recognition program.”
“I was not at all pleased with the merit plan. Members anticipated
management using it in a way that could confuse or divide our membership,”
said Local 375 President Claude Fort. The original plan was never
implemented; both parties agreed to the modification on Sept. 25.
The renegotiated deal “is a sign of the new SCA leadership’s
willingness to cooperate with the local, and we appreciate it,”
said Mr. Fort.
Unit A will use the funds to improve a salary step program. The
new agreement adds an eighth step for employees who now have a seven-step
salary plan. For another group of employees, who have seven steps
and a salary maximum, the agreement will raise each of the payments.
The hikes for Unit A members will range from $200 to about $2,000,
according to Assistant Director Frank Burns of the DC 37 Research
and Negotiations Dept., who provided the local with technical advice
in the talks.
Unit C will use the additional compensation for recurring increment
payments. The payments will be $1,239 after five years, $2,548 after
10 years, and $3,587 after 15 years.
The union expects the SCA to implement the new agreement soon, retroactive
to June 1, 2000, when the additional compensation was due under
the 1995-2000 contract.
“The members are generally very happy with this agreement,”
said Sabiha Khan, president of Local 375’s SCA Chapter 5. “Only
a few people benefit from merit pay,” she said. “It’s
a good feeling that instead we will be helping everyone in our units
at SCA.”