The current UFT Contract “ends” November 28, 2027 and the UFT has begun the negotiations process.
Negotiation sub committees reflecting all the titles, 700 members have met and will continue to meet to create bargaining demands.that reflect the views of the members.
First, a primer: under provisions of the Public Employee Relations Act, commonly called the Taylor Law labor contracts are “forever,” contracts stay in “full force and effect” until the successor contract is ratified, for my nerdy readers, called the Triborough Doctrine.
As a result among the thousands of public employee labor agreements, strikes are exceedingly rare. The last NYC teacher strike was in 1975 after the layoff of 15,000 teachers, the strike lasted a week, a new contract was negotiated as the city edged towards bankruptcy. If the parties, the City and the UFT, fail to reach an agreement by November 28, 2027 the parties continue to negotiate. With the agreement of both parties the PERB process can intervene: mediation, fact-finding and non-binding arbitration with a public finding. The PBA, the police union contract expired a year ago and the union and the city are entering the PERB mediation process.
In his third term Bloomberg was planning to change seniority rules, “last in, first out” would be replaced by management choice, requiring a change in state law. The legislature refused and the UFT said, “We’ll wait for the next mayor,” the contract remained in “full force and effect” until the union negotiated a contract with de Blasio.
de Blasio had worked his way up the line, from City Council member to Public Advocate to Mayor, the union had worked with him for years. As mayor he negotiated a contract with retroactive pay, the UFT had a working relationship, including a few COVID bumps. Adams was a throwback to Tweed politics, suffice it to say not many mayors have been indicted by the Feds.
Across the bargaining table will we be facing Mamdani the candidate (…against mayoral control, working with parents and teachers to select a chancellor, supporting a para pay bump) or another face of Mamdani, forgetting all his election promises upon swearing in? The NY Times reports Mamdani uses hundreds of influencers to impact public opinion, will he use influencers in our negotiations to attempt to denigrate the union?
After the UFT bailed out the Mayor’s budget, not preventing the stretching out of pension funding (has no effect on pension payments) and negotiating stretching out the implementation of the Class Size Reduction law, saving the City $2B, the mayor challenges the para pay bump law in court.
Which Mamdani will we face in negotiations?
Are his negotiators going to cry, the city doesn’t have “the ability to pay,” and the unions will have to accept a “pattern” within our means?
Politico reports,
New York City has set aside enough money in its budget reserves to cover a 1.25 percent annual pay hike for municipal workers. [1]
- Funded Increase: 1.25% annual pay increase reserved in the spending plan.
- Cost Per Percentage: Each 1% raise adds $500 million to $600 million annually (compounding).
- The Gap: Actual historical raises typically land between 2% and 3%
The City Council approved a recommendation for a raise for themselves the first time in a decade
New York City elected officials are set to get their first pay raise in a decade after the City Council approved legislation Thursday to hike their salaries 18.2%.
The move comes nearly a month after a three-person independent panel convened by Mayor Zohran Mamdani recommended the legislative body do so, pointing to how the cost of living has significantly increased since electeds saw their last pay increase in 2016.
The Citizens Budget Commission is an independent organization, constantly reporting on the fiscal situations of the city and state, what does “…reasonable employee compensation” translate into?
“It is critical to balance reasonable employee compensation with long-term fiscal sustainability, while recognizing that the additional costs will ultimately be paid for by riders or taxpayers,” said Ana Champeny, vice president for research at the Citizens Budget Commission.
A recent CBC report parses through the State and City budgets, and is especially critical of the City budget, pushing expenses forward into future budgets, a policy that in the 70s almost pushed the City into bankruptcy.
As far as collective bargaining, in a section titled Additional Risks,
Collective Bargaining increases budgeted at 1.25% a year, annual increases of 3% would be $1B more in the first year, $2B in the second year, and $3B in the third year. Many administration priorities remain to be funded, such as free buses and universal childcare.
Of course we have no idea whether the nation’s economy is beginning to totter, I read Paul Krugman and Jared Bernstein on substack every morning, and am reminded of the amputee economist, “…on one hand.”
Entering negotiations as a recession erodes tax dollars negatively impacts negotiations.
The other half of negotiations are working conditions.
The membership survey, due to you in early November is crucial.Check out here.
I know, for some of us, cynicism, “it’s all been decided,” innumerable contract changes grow out of membership surveys, for example, Elementary school dismissal must be structured so that UFT-represented employees do not perform dismissal duties beyond their instructional day.
In the distant past I was on a few negotiations committees, tedious, exasperating, remember the City also has bargaining demands.
The negotiations process must, to the extent possible, include the union membership, the 700 members serving on the subcommittees, the results of the survey will drive the process and, ultimately, a membership ratification vote.
The union has allies, the City Council and Albany legislative leadership, a host of public school advocacy organizations and, hopefully, the public. Yes, the NY Post and the Manhattan Institute will attack the union and opposition caucuses will probably urge a no vote in the ratification.
No predictions.
Will NYC’s economy stumble or grow? Will AI lift the economy?
Can we “tax the rich,” or will that chase the rich out of the city, reducing revenue?
How will the next contract impact re Mamdani’s image?
If the union organizes rallies and demonstrations: attend.
Frustrations will grow as the process unfolds.
Stay engaged, an incredibly complex process, we are at the beginning of a long road.
