Negotiations resume between AFSCME, Detroit city officials; union willing to budge

DETROIT — AFSCME Council 25 negotiators and city labor relations representatives return to the bargaining table today to continue hammering out an agreement that bridges the gap between labor demands and the city’s proposal to make deep cuts to stem the budget crisis.

According to Cathy Phillips, AFSCME Council 25’s chief negotiator, and her deputy negotiator DeAngelo Malcolm, AFSCME might budge in the direction of the city’s demands at today’s negotiation session.

“We may be giving them something moving closer to them Thursday,” Phillips told Michigan Messenger, though she wouldn’t talk details. Now it’s up to the city. “The question still remains, will they be receptive to it?” she asked.

Phillips did nothing to hide her frustration with Bing and his labor relations team, saying city leadership has not been forthcoming with just how much they aim to save from cutting AFSCME pay and benefits. “We asked them specifically: ‘How much do you want to save from this bargaining unit?” Phillips said, slapping the table for emphasis. “They have not specified an amount that they want to save … I mean, we’re bargaining in the dark.”

This is unusual, said Phillips, whose firm tone shows she is no stranger to brokering a tough deal. “[Usually] we may not like each other’s positions, but we’re able to justify why we’re asking for what we’re asking for,” she said. “Not this administration! It’s ‘my way or no way.’” Phillips, once again pounding her right fist on the table in frustration as she spoke, exemplifies the emotionally charged contract negotiations. “They can’t justify anything!”

While AFSCME negotiators say they understand that the city is in a financial emergency, they think the mayor is biting off too much too soon. “AFSCME has never doubted the city’s financial crisis,” Phillips said.

But that doesn’t mean Phillips won’t drive a hard bargain. “We know we have to take concessions. No one’s running form that,” she said. “What we’re running from is that they want to change too much at one time.”

Bing’s administration, like the Kenneth Cockrel Jr. administration that preceded him, wants to slash union pay across the board and decrease employee benefits, something that adds up to more than what the city is calling a 10-percent pay cut, according to Phillips.

“The mayor keeps saying in the media that it’s about a 10-percent pay cut. It’s more than a 10-percent pay cut,” Phillips said. “The 26-furlough day that they have proposed equates to a 10-percent pay cut, but there are numerous other concessionary proposals on the table that take it over and above a 10-percent pay cut.”

She said the city has proposed health care changes for all employees and a host of benefit slashes for new hires such as decreased sick leave, decreased vacation time, eliminating in longevity bonuses and slashing retirement benefits in addition to the ten percent pay cut.

AFSCME has agreed to some workday furloughs at previous negotiating sessions, a position they changed to move closer to city demands. “At first we were saying zero furlough days. Then … we said ‘you know what? We understand the city is having problem.’ We put 12 furlough days on the table. So we’re moving closer to the employer,” Malcolm said. “But … they’re not willing to budge.”

Phillips hinted that AFSCME would be willing to ultimately surrender all 26 furlough days, but that would be the end of the bargaining rope.

“We would probably end up giving up the furlough days,” Phillips said. “But the rest of the things that they have on the table has got to go!”

Meanwhile, Phillips is boldly campaigning for Bing’s mayoral challenger in next week’s election, accountant Tom Barrow. Her opinion of Bing is dismal, though she seems unclear on his intentions. At one point in the interview she said she believes Bing is trying to dismantle union contracts, but as the interview came to an end, she had another take on he businessman-turned mayor: He’s “clueless” when it comes to the public sector.

Whatever the case, Phillips is looking to Barrow to preserve unions jobs and pay. Using phrases like “our hope is in Tom Barrow,” calling Bing “a liar” and proudly wearing a Barrow pin on her chest, one could mistake Phillips for the third-time challenging mayoral candidate’s campaign manager.

“My boss likes to call [Bing] disingenuous,” Phillips said. Without hesitation she continued, “I like to call him a liar.”

The irony here is that Barrow has not promised that he wouldn’t make the same cuts Bing is making. The only difference is that Barrow said would be more open with information. Still, AFSCME members are taking the chance that Barrow will go easier on unions.

Since the primary, Barrow has received most of his funding from organized labor as Bing’s unpopular cuts have turned a major portion of unionized workers against him. The question is whether the union vote will swing the vote for underdog Barrow.

Phillips is counting on AFSCME Council 25’s 3,500 members and their families to storm the polls for Barrow, who only got 10-percent of the vote in the primary to Bing’s 80 percent. “There is a rumor that a lot of us have left the city,” Phillips said. “Not AFSCME members. The majority of our members are still right here in the city of Detroit.”