Hicksville library negotiations drag on

A new round of negotiations this month has failed to resolve a more than three-year-old contract dispute between the Hicksville Public Library board and its 49 unionized workers.

The two sides have been at loggerheads over retroactive raises and health care costs; and typically quiet board meetings have become contentious.

Workers say they were willing to compromise but that the board has taken a hard line. Board members say they have a responsibility to taxpayers to keep costs down.

The fight has turned bitter and personal, with board president Donna Rivera-Downey taking much of the criticism.

"We have three buildings, no debt, the library runs in the black, and we feel we're the ones that have done it, the union, because we are . . . [low paid]," said Richard Vizza, 68, a circulation clerk from Syosset.

Rivera-Downey said board members dedicate their free time to improve the library. "They talk about us like we're getting paid -- this is a voluntary position," she said. "We do this for the good of the community, and that is our main concern. . . . "

At $3.8 million, employee pay, benefits and pensions are the biggest part of the library's $5.2 million 2014-15 budget. The library has 54 employees, including those represented by the Civil Service Employees Association and five nonunion employees in management.

Vizza said many employees are barely scraping by and need raises to live on Long Island. He said he made $34,000 last year. The union has asked for annual retroactive raises of between 2 percent and 3 percent.

The board wants all employees to contribute to health care costs. Vizza said about two-thirds of employees pay a share of health care -- agreed to in the last contract -- while the remainder were grandfathered in and don't contribute. The workers had been willing to compromise on health care but not on retroactive raises; and they've soured as talks dragged on, Vizza said.

Neither side would get into many specifics about negotiations, which are being handled by a union representative and a negotiator hired by the board.

In October, the board gave raises to four nonunion employees for the greater of 2 percent or $1,000, a move that increased tensions.

Another contentious issue has been the purchase of a house next to the library that was converted into offices for management. The library purchased the house for $500,000 in 2010 and remodeled using cash reserves.

The sale price was higher than comparable houses in the area, but Rivera-Downey, who was on the board but was not then president, said it had been handled appropriately. Vizza and others said the library needed more parking.

Some workers said the library should have used bonds to purchase the house, which would have spread the costs out over many years and left more money for operations. Rivera-Downey said using reserves was better than trying to get the community to approve a bond issue. The library is also trying to sell a nearby building that is underutilized.

The two sides plan to resume negotiations early next month.