Zohran, Elle and his inner circle. in the back room of a bar in Astoria, are probably debating the conundrum: how to respond to the para pay bump bill ….
On Thursday, July 16th the City Council approved, by a 49-0 vote the paraprofessional pay boost, council member after member praised the bill. praised the work of paraprofessionals in the schools. Watch the session here.
Text of Bill: https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7927500&GUID=E6BADACD-DE03-s4EDC-A5AD-EBBF530CBBB1
Key Details of the Legislation
- Payment Structure: Eligible full-time paraprofessionals receive $10,000, distributed in four quarterly installments of $2,500. Substitute paraprofessionals receive prorated amounts based on days worked. [1, 2, 3]
- Effective Timeline: Payments begin in early 2027, [1, 2, 3, 4]
- Expiration/Sunset Clause: The one-year program will only be renewed if the Council authorizes it, or it will be repealed completely if a new collective bargaining agreement officially grants paras a permanent pay increase of $10,000 or more. [1]
- Cost & Reach: The initiative costs the city approximately $244 million and impacts roughly 26,000 Department of Education paraprofessionals. [1]
- Current Status & Controversy: While passed unanimously (49-0) by the City Council, the legislation faces resistance from the mayor’s office. The administration argues that legislative mandates circumvent collective bargaining laws and establish fiscal precedent.
During his campaign candidate Mamdani expressed support for the bill, as the bill moved closer to passage the mayor waffled and upon passage opposed the bill.
Chalkbeat reports,
“Mamdani — who, as a candidate, supported an earlier version of the bill — expressed concerns as mayor over any payment made outside collective bargaining while also praising the work of paraprofessionals.
“I have been clear that questions of compensation are best resolved through the collective bargaining process that respects workers and their unions,” he said in a statement after the vote.“However, the Council’s passage of this legislation is in direct violation of the Taylor Law. Our administration is reviewing the final language carefully and working to determine the appropriate next steps.”
Options: The Mayor could sign the bill, take no action and after 30 days the bill become law, veto the bill, the Council could override the veto with a 2/3 vote or challenge the bill in the courts.
When I asked Chat CPT, “Does the passage of the paraprofessional pay boost bill violate the law?” The answer was “No.”
In March 2023 I wrote a substack discussing the “pattern bargaining” and “ability to pay,” read here
The mayor avers the bill circumvents “pattern bargaining,” a term not embedded in law. In 2005 after 2 1/2 years with an expired contract Mayor Bloomberg and the Union agreed to a contract that exceeded the pattern
The actual question is not whether the pay boost violates the Taylor Law, the actual question is whether the mayor wants to discard the UFT as an ally as well as cross swords with Julie Menin, the Council Speaker. Menin and Comptroller Mark Levine are already “testing the water,” planning their attempt to dethrone Mamdani.
If he challenges the bill, Mandami risks antagonizing the 26, 000 paraprofessionals, mostly Black and Latina women, and probably Black and Latina women across the City, tarnishing his glowing victories on primary day.
What we are watching is the beginning of the mayor’s 2029 reelection campaign.
The UFT negotiated a stretch out of the full implementation of the Class Size Reduction law, saving the City over a billion in the just agreed to budget as well not challenging delaying fully funding teacher pensions, an action which has no impact on current retiree pension payments, saving the city over a billion.
The “Respect Check” bill was originally introduced last year, during the Adams administration and reintroduced at the beginning of the current session.
Politics is a game of chess, Mulgrew and his team are Grandmasters, a full time union staffer is the UFT liaison to the City Council, she has developed relationships with most of the members, and works with them on the innumerable local issues, she’s a fixture a 250 Broadway, the office space for the Council members.
The Respect Check legislation slowly moved through the Council, hearings, member meetings with paraprofessionals who are constituents of council members, building support for the bill, tweaking the language of the bill, until the Speaker and 49 members stood behind the bill.
Why do Council members have such a good relationship with the UFT? Thirty-four members are term limited, seventeen will be running for a second term, perhaps with DSA opponents. They all want UFT support in reelection campaigns or challenging current Albany electeds, a UFT endorsement is not just a name on a flyer, it means boots on the ground.
Mamdani needs a working relationship with the Speaker and the Governor, in this budget cycle the Governor provided significant dollars, the mayor can’t expect largess from Albany going forward and the Speaker, with a firm grip on her members, is a tough negotiator,
The mayor needs more than a working relationship. He needs a polyamorous relationship see here.
Next month the discussions in “the room where it happens” should be intense.
Ed in the Apple: Blogging on the Intersection of Education and Politics Title 