Jun. 26, 2023 By Ethan Stark-Miller
Mayor Eric Adams has ironed out a tentative five-year labor deal with the Teamsters Local 237, which will cover more than 9,000 municipal workers, the mayor announced on Monday.
The Teamsters Local 237 represent a large swath of city employees such as school safety agents, special police officers who work in city hospitals and homeless shelters, other types of hospital workers, school food service managers and custodians.
The agreement, still to be finalized, conforms to the bargaining pattern set by deals between the city and District Council 37 (DC37) in February and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) earlier this month. The contract is retroactive — running from April 2022 through October 2027 — and contains raises of 3% for each of its first four years and 3.25% in its fifth year — constituting a 16% wage increase.
The accord also includes a $3,000 lump sum ratification bonus and will, starting in October, allow school safety agents and special officers to reach their top possible pay in five years instead of the current seven.
“The men and women who protect our schools, our hospitals, and our shelters, and all of the members of Teamsters Local 237, work tirelessly to serve our city, and we are pleased to have reached this tentative agreement to provide them with the pay they deserve,” Adams said, in a statement. “This agreement provides for fair wage increases and a quicker route to top pay to ensure we continue to recruit and retain the top talent for the best workforce in the best city in the world.”
The $293 million is funded through the labor reserve in the mayor’s Fiscal Year 2024 executive budget proposal.
Gregory Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, said the tentative agreement is an “extraordinary achievement in labor relations.”
“Our members, who work tirelessly to help keep the city up and running, now know that their efforts are recognized and rewarded,” Floyd said, in a statement. “This contract victory also underscores the importance of solidarity as union members. We have the vision and voice of all working people who deserve and demand dignity and fairness in the workplace. Workers’ rights are human rights, and this accomplishment celebrates the fact that, today, the two have come together.”
The city has also reached ratified and tentative deals with many of its uniformed unions, including the Police Benevolent Association and the Uniformed Officers Coalition, which represents 11 uniformed labor groups across the NYPD, FDNY, Sanitation Department and Department of Corrections.
Read more: Suspect Caught After Queens and Brooklyn Shootings