Public Employee Press

American Museum staff ratify pact on working conditions

Attendant Guards in American Museum of Natural History Local 1306 approved a new working conditions contract that improves their career ladder.

On Jan. 19, members voted 77 to 66 for the new contract, which lasts from July 1, 2002, to Dec. 31, 2006. “I feel good,” said Local President 1306 Louis Moret, expressing relief that members passed the contract after rejecting two previous versions. “We got a little something for everyone.”

Local 1306 represents over 200 Attendant Guards, with about 140 performing security duties and 65 assigned to custodial tasks. The agreement increases the shoe allowance by $10 to $55, and prohibits the museum from considering disciplinary notices in a workers’ personnel file if the individual is hit with a new, unrelated charge after a year.

Workers in career ladder positions will get an additional $150. Those in the 18 new positions included in the career ladder plan will receive pay boosts of about $1,000. The career ladder provides additional compensation, ranging from $1,000 to $1,500 for Attendant Guards who work in the console room and others in the “moving gangs” that set up tables and chairs for gatherings at the museum.

By modifying a 15-minute discretionary break schedule, the pact will yield productivity savings to fund an extra 1 percent pay hike, as provided in District Council 37’s 2002-2005 economic agreement with the city’s cultural institutions.

Besides Moret, the local bargaining team included members Estella Barber, Flor Gomez, David Manbahal, James Cole, Reggie Qadar and Bill Kowalczk and DC 37’s Moira Dolan and Madonna Knight.