Public Employee Press

Local 375 dumps merit pay in SCA

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.”