SEIU Local 100
City of New Orleans Workers Page

Raises for the Many, Not Just the Few!

Mayor Nagin raises salaries for eight appointed city workers a total of $420,000. Now the Civil Service Commission wants another $440,000 for raises for eight civil servants. Local 100 is working for fairness and equity in City Hall pay raises. Click on the links below or to the right to read Local 100's latest E-Flash and our letter to the Mayor, as well as articles and an editorial from the Times Picayune.

• July 12: Times Picayune Editorial: When Mayor Nagin proposed substantial raises for nearly three dozen high-level positions in city government, it was only a matter of time before other city workers began pushing for higher salaries as well.
  Current pay levels up and down the totem pole at City Hall aren't enough, generally speaking, to attract and retain good workers. Many longtime employees say their pay hasn't kept up with inflation.
  Even so, a salary plan advanced by the city's Civil Service Commission is the wrong way to deal with the problem.
  Click here to read the whole editorial.
  
• July 11: Times Picayune Front Page: "As New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pursues his controversial plan to boost the salaries of nearly three dozen high-level appointees -- substantially, in many cases -- the city's Civil Service Commission is quietly pushing equally hefty raises for select civil servants." Click here to read the whole thing.
• June 26: Times Picayune Front Page: "Mayor Ray Nagin's effort to raise salaries substantially for some top City Hall jobs and create a handful of new positions, including a six-figure post for former City Councilman Jim Singleton, is encountering turbulence on several fronts." The article even quotes our latest E-Flash to city employees on this issue. Click here to read the entire piece.
• June 23 E-Flash
• May 21 E-Flash
• May 20 Editorial
• Local 100 Letter to Mayor & Press Release
• May 17 Times-Picayune Article

News and Announcements

City Raises

• July 12, 2002: Times Picayune Editorial

• July 11, 2002, Times Picayune Article on Civil Service Raises.

• June 26, 2002, Times-Picayune Article on raises, including a mention of our latest E-Flash.

• Local 100 E-Flash: June 23, 2002

•Local 100 E-Flash: May 21, 2002

• Editorial: Let the Man Work: May 20, 2002

• Local 100's Press Release about Nagin's Pay Raises, and our letter to the Mayor: May 16, 2002

• Nagin wins pay raises for several key aides: 5 salaries to match or exceed mayor's: May 17, 2002

Read the Agreement with the City here (note: this is on Adobe Acrobat format)

Times-Picayune article on the Contract signing: February 28, 2002

Bargaining Team Members

Read our Local 100 E-Flashes to City Employees

Read archived news articles about how we got where we are now.

Above: Local 100 Chief Organizer Wade Rathke addresses members at the February 25, 2002,
meeting to ratify our new contract.

Left:
Members at the February 25 meeting

On Wednesday, February 27th, 2002, with AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and SEIU President Andy Stern looking on, SEIU Local 100 and the New Orleans Public Employees Council, AFL-CIO, signed a historic contract with Mayor Marc Morial and the City of New Orleans. This is the first ever contract between City Hall and its workers, and is the culmination of over 40 years of organizing efforts by labor unions determined to give City employees a voice at work.

This contract was ratified at the February 25, 2002, union meeting. The vote for ratification was unanimous.

The highlights of the contract include:

• The City will appoint a compensation committee, including one member from the union, to study pay and compensation of employees covered under the contract.
  
  
• The contract provides for a safe healthy work environment. Be sure to let us know what can make your job safer. We are working to develop an on-line form for you to submit your ideas, so check back to this page often for more details.
  
  
• Employees will be offered better training, including the ability to develop new skills for better promotional opportunities.
  
  
• A grievance procedure is in place, ensuring that the rights of employees are protected.

In addition, we have written to the members of the City Council to ask their support in taking the following two steps:

1. Raising the minimum wage for all City employees to $6.15 an hour.
   
   
2. Beginning steps for sub-contract and city workers to be paid no less than poverty wages as set by the Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics which is currently $8.50 per hour. The union has had several meetings with City Council members to begin to implement this program.

Union dues will begin between the middle of March and the end of April. Dues for Local 100 are about 1.75% or $1.75 for every $100 and will be deducted each pay period. Dues for the New Orleans Public Employees Council will be that of the respective union.

Click here to read a copy of the entire Agreement. It is in Adobe Acrobat format, so you will either have to have Acrobat Reader on your computer or you can click here or on the icon below to download it.

Be sure to visit this page often in the coming days and weeks as our negotiations heat up. Stay involved. Be aware of what's happening. Know what YOUR union is doing for YOU.

Organizers and members at our historic October 12, 2001, press conference announcing the result of the union vote.

Click here to return to Local 100's main page.