Mayor de Blasio and DC37 Announce Tentative Contract Agreement

• Report rights infringement
• published: 02 Jul 2014
• views: 5029

Mayor Bill de Blasio and DC37 Announce Tentative Contract Agreement Agreement conforms to UFT pattern, marks landmark first contract with group that settled in 2008-2010 collective bargaining but has since been without new contracts; 60 percent of City workforce has now reached agreements DC37, City agree to find additional workplace savings, increase recruitment and promotion of women and minorities; fiscally responsible settlement includes unprecedented health care savings Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today that the City of New York has reached a tentative contract agreement with DC37, the City’s largest public employee union. Today’s announcement means that approximately 60 percent of the city’s workforce has now reached contract agreements or tentative contract agreements. This tentative agreement with DC37’s over 100,000 impacted employees marks a landmark first contract with the group of unions that settled in the 2008-2010 round of collective bargaining but has been without new contracts since 2010. The pattern of today’s agreement is consistent with the City’s now-ratified contract with the United Federation of Teachers (UFT)—confirming and establishing that pattern as the basis for the other 120,000 city employees who also settled in the 2008-2010 round of collective bargaining. That confirmed pattern provides 10 percent in raises over seven years and a $1,000 ratification bonus, offset by significant savings. The pattern incorporates the unprecedented, guaranteed and enforceable health care savings agreed upon with the Municipal Labor Committee, which make these raises responsible. Even after the City’s now-adopted budget factors in the pattern settlement for the first time, out-year gaps remain well below the historical average under prior administrations. As part of today’s tentative contract, DC37 has agreed to extend its contract by four more months. The City and DC37 have also agreed to continue to find additional workplace savings, and will create a Joint Recruitment and Promotion Study Committee to focus on increasing recruitment, retention, and promotion of women and minorities in DC37 jobs. The proposed seven-year, four-month contract with DC37 would begin, retroactively, on March 3, 2010 and expire on July 2, 2017. Under the tentative agreement announced today, DC37 employees would receive raises of 10 percent over the first seven years (which, compounded, total 10.41 percent) and 0.52 percent over the four-month contract extension. The MLC and the City have agreed to secure $3.4 billion in health care savings through Fiscal Year 2018, and $1.3 billion in recurring savings every year thereafter. The City and the municipal unions will work to secure cost-cutting measures, aimed at bending the curve of rising health care costs for the first time. These savings are guaranteed and enforceable by arbitration. The gross cost of the tentative DC37 settlement is $1.75 billion; after the guaranteed health care savings, the net cost will be $955 million. That cost and the additional benefits agreed upon with DC37 will also be fully funded within the pattern settlement and requires no new funding over previous budgetary projections. The terms of the agreements must be approved by DC37’s membership. DC37’s over 100,000 impacted employees have worked without a contract since 2010. This agreement follows a number of other major settlements with municipal labor unions, making good on the Mayor’s pledge to restore a productive and respectful relationship between the City and its workforce. Key Reforms and Improvements Today’s tentative agreement includes the following reforms and improvements, which are fully covered by the pattern settlement: • Joint Recruitment and Promotion Study Committee (R&P; Committee): A new committee, consisting of DC37 members and City representatives, will make recommendations on how to increase recruitment, retention, and promotion of women and minorities in DC 37 jobs, in which these groups have historically been underrepresented. The R&P; Committee will also look at more effective ways to use existing training funds and align City and DC37 efforts to prepare DC37 members for promotion. The R&P; Committee will submit preliminary recommendations in six months. It will also be able to retain experts to assist with data collection and analysis; the committee will also draft a final report. Fair Wages DC37 employees will receive compounded increases based on the final seven years of the UFT pattern, with the four-month contract extension: September 3, 2011: 1.00% September 3, 2012: 1.00% September 3, 2013: 1.00% September 3, 2014: 1.50% September 3, 2015: 2.50% September 3, 2016: 3.00% March 3, 2017 (Additional Compensation Fund): 0.52% The agreement also includes a one-time $1,000 ratification payment. Blue Room, City Hall, Manhattan July 2, 2014