$1B labor deal
DC 37 snares lucrative 44-month contract
The de Blasio administration struck a deal for a new 44-month contract with the largest city workers union — giving raises that will likely set a pattern for the entire city workforce, officials said Tuesday.
Under the $1 billion contract, the nearly 100,000 members of District Council 37 will get wage hikes of 2% in the first year of the contract, 2.25% the next year and 3% the year after that.
Mayor de Blasio announced the contract at City Hall with DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido.
Hizzoner called it “a contract that respects our workforce and their needs while also recognizing the needs of our taxpayers, the need for fiscal stability.”
“We've taken a major step forward and really recognized how crucial these employees are to our city,” he said.
The union represents a wide range of city employees, including maintenance and clerical workers.
The last two raises will be compounded, meaning members will get 7.42% in total wage hikes over the entire deal, which is retroactive starting in September 2017 and will last until May 2021.
As part of the deal, DC 37 members will also get partially paid family leave starting next year. The union is opting in to the state's family leave program, and members will be allowed to take 10 weeks off to care for a family member while getting paid up to 55% of their salary.
The city teachers union last week announced a deal giving members six weeks of parental leave at full pay. Because DC 37's workforce is older, they preferred the option that would allow them to take time off to care for other family members and not just a new baby, Garrido said.
A payroll deduction of about 0.13% will pay for the benefit.
The city also struck a deal with the Municipal Labor Committee, which represents all city worker unions, to save cash on employee health care.
New rules will require workers to go to outpatient health centers, instead of hospitals, for some kinds of treatment.
And new employees for their first year must join the HIP Health Plan of New York, the cheapest health care plan the city offers, but will be able to switch to a pricier plan after that.
But city negotiators were unable to persuade the union to pay higher health care premiums.
The labor umbrella group said the health care changes would save the city $1.5 billion in employee health care costs over the next three years.
The DC 37 contract will cost a total of $1 billion. After accounting for the health care savings and money already set aside for labor deals, the city will be increasing spending by $307 million.
The city will also require new employees to be paid via direct deposit, a move that will enable payroll staff to stop producing and mailing physical checks. Seasonal workers will be exempt.
The labor agreement comes as the city's largest uniformed union, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, is in the midst of its own contract talks with the city. But the PBA has moved to have its case heard, once again, by an arbitrator.
Any decision made by the arbitrator would be binding and last only two years unless both sides agreed to an extension.
“We congratulate our DC 37 brothers and sisters on reaching a deal they believe meets their needs. Unfortunately, none of the city's offers to the PBA have met our members' needs,” union President Patrick Lynch said.
The city's uniformed unions, including police and fire, have in recent years received an additional 1% raise over negotiated civilian contracts.