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Tag: New York Teachers’ Union

  • NYC Teacher Contract A “Landmark” Agreement

    NYC Teacher Contract A “Landmark” Agreement

    Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a “landmark” labor deal on Thursday with New York City’s largest teachers’ union, the New York Times is reporting. The deal will set the framework for other outstanding contracts with the municipal workforce, officials said.

    The teachers’ union known as the United Federation of Teachers has been without a contract for four and a half years during former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s tenure in office and must ratify the agreement.

    The deal grants $3.4 billion in back pay to the union, in exchange for a substantial reduction in health care costs and an easing of classroom work rules. Teachers will also receive raises totaling up to 10 percent over seven years.

    Mayor Bill de Blasio hailed the deal as a victory for educators and tax payers, though it is still unclear if the city will have savings from the reduction in health care costs. Officials said that if other teachers’ unions agree to the same deal with a reduction in health care costs, the city will save $3.4 billion, off-setting the back pay given to the union.

    In addition, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the agreement would increase teacher retention, while staying within the city’s budget. It’s a stark contrast in negotiating tactics when compared to his predecessor Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who promoted pay freezes and other stringent tactics.

    The substantial reduction in health care costs without raising premiums comes from an idiosyncratic approach, according to city officials, such as increased use of prescriptions by mail, which saves money in the long-run. The hope is that the other 151 municipal bargaining units that have open contracts with the city will adopt a similar approach.

    This is Mayor Bill de Blasio’s first year in office, and city officials hope that this agreement with the United Federation of Teachers will set the tone for other agreements during his tenure in office.

    The agreement is expected to stretch over nine years, which is substantially longer than the most recent municipal contracts in New York, and a way city officials hope to spread the impact of the wage increases over many years’ worth of budgets.

    But it’s still unclear if the savings generated by a substantial reduction in health care costs will materialize.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • New York Teachers’ Union Close to 9-Year Deal

    Since 2009, New York teachers, represented by the United Federation of Teachers, have been working without a contract, disputing their pay with the city and previous Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, for 5 years. That dispute is now coming to a close as both teachers and current Mayor Bill de Blasio are on the verge of announcing a deal.

    Mayor de Blasio postponed a major announcement about his affordable-housing plan to work on the agreement. Officials, who wished to remain anonymous because it has not been finalized, said that the deal, in which both sides would announce a 9-year contract, could be disclosed at City Hall on Thursday.

    “We’re just finalizing the language,” said a teachers’ union official. “It could be very soon.”

    The United Federation of Teachers was seeking $3.4 billion in back pay, claiming that they should have received the same raises that most other city unions had received. These retroactive raises would now be given (though over many years), according to an official.

    The deal would also address other major educational issues such as evaluating teacher’s performance by student test results, the length of the school day, and the pool of approximately 1,000 teachers who are still being paid although their jobs have been eliminated due to school closings or other reasons.

    The 9-year contract would date from November 1, 2009, when the union’s contract expired, and extend for another four and a half years (until after the next mayoral election in 2017).

    But a concern from the very beginning has been that the other 151 municipal unions, also without contracts, will want to begin negotiating deals as well. Last week subway and bus workers reached a deal with the city for a raise of 11 percent over 6 years.

    “These discussions are just one part of the process,” said an anonymous senior administration official. “They’re an important part of a much larger conversation that still has a long way to go. We’re looking at a comprehensive approach to labor negotiations.”

    Current salaries for New York public school teachers range from $45,000 to $100,000.


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