Poor Judges Mull A Union-like Association

Miss Justice is angry (via urbanblitz's flickr).

New York State’s 1,300 judges are unhappy. And if we had gone 12 years without a raise we'd probably be a bit peeved too. But are they unhappy enough to start a union? Possibly!

See, the highest-level trial judges in the state, New York's Supreme Court justices, earn $136,700 a year, $37,300 less than Federal district court judges make. And despite more work, our gavel-wielders haven't gotten any raises in more than a decade. Further, a recent plan from the State Legislature doesn't permit judges to get one until 2012, at the earliest. And even then there will be no chances for retroactive pay increases and the Ledge is allowed to block the raise if they feel like it. So naturally, several judges (both elected and appointed) are suing over the issue.

And those crazy judges aren't stopping there! A recent survey of state judges was filled out by 550 of them and turned up some interesting results. Like how 95% of them are not satisfied with the outcome of their long-running salary dispute. And how 90% of them, more than 500 judges, "favored the creation of a judges’ association to negotiate with the state."

Now, before you get all freaked out about a judge's union slowing down an already slow legal system, note that more than half of those who responded to the survey also said they "would not be willing to take part in public action like a rally or a march to press for a pay raise." And nothing has happened yet, a meeting to discuss a statewide association has only just been scheduled. Still, interesting.

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By Garth Johnston in News on January 12, 2011 10:57 AM

Comments [rss]

TimeDown

I agree that the judge's deserve a raise but comparing them to federal judges does not seem appropriate. New York federal judges are usually, but not always, more qualified. Also, anyone who has sat in a courtroom waiting for a judge to appear can tell you that maybe that the judges may deserve their raise more if they held themselves to the same standards they hold the attorneys and the parties to.

Christopher J. Stephens

These judges aren't the only ones. The city's administrative law judges unionized in 2007, and the city has been stalling, refusing to negotiate a contract in any meaningful way. Last week, the Office of Collective Bargaining found that the city had broken the law by trying to change the terms and conditions of the ALJ's employment by cutting (by as much as 50%), the number of hours the judges could work each year. Unlike the state judges, the ALJs are paid only $39.42 an hour, with no benefits. Yes, more than they could get for flipping burgers, but still a shockingly low figure for attorneys with at least 3 years of experience. All part of the Bloomberg administration's war on city employees.