Islip workers' new union leaves contract in question

Islip Town's blue-collar workers have voted in new union representation - disqualifying themselves from a benefit fund and possibly throwing out the contract they recently ratified.

The town says the contract is void since it was negotiated by the old union. The new union says the town must honor the pact.

The blue-collar unit's 385 members in April ratified a contract negotiated by Teamsters Local 237, which had represented the town's blue- and white-collar employees for three decades. But Tuesday, believing the Teamsters were not aggressively advocating for them, the blue-collar workers voted, 179-123, to be represented by the United Public Service Employees Union, which represents several Long Island school districts. Islip's white-collar unit voted, 143-84, to stay with the Teamsters.

By electing new representation, the blue-collar workers leave behind a fund for vision and dental benefits. UPSEU members have not been designated as participants in the fund.

The benefit fund, which has a substantial surplus, was the cornerstone of the new contract. The town had agreed to suspend payments to the fund -- totaling about $560,000 a year -- and use the money to pay for workers' lump-sum payments and raises that the town said it otherwise could not afford.

Town officials and representatives of the two unions agree that the blue-collar workers no longer have access to the fund, which covers benefits for town managers, Local 237's white-collar unit, the town's housing authority, the Islip Resource Recovery Agency and the Village of Brightwaters. They differ, however, on the status of the contract.

Town labor relations director Robert Finnegan said the contract, though ratified, has not been implemented. Town officials had been waiting for the union vote, and, pending its certification by the state, are ready to enact only the white-collar portion of the contract, he said.

The blue-collar workers' previous contract expired in 2007. The Teamsters warned that switching unions would invalidate the new contract, but the UPSEU told workers they would not lose the contract.

Islip must now negotiate a contract and a new benefits arrangement with the new union, Finnegan said. The town is required contractually to contribute $750 per year per employee to some kind of benefit fund.

Without access to the previous fund's surplus, negotiators must be "creative" in finding ways to fund a new contract, Finnegan said.

Kevin Boyle, president of the new union, said because the Teamsters contract was ratified, the town must honor it. He called on Islip to convene a meeting of the benefit fund's trustees and vote to reinstate the blue-collar workers as members. The Teamsters hold three of the board's six seats.