NYC’s Largest Municipal Union Gets New Contract

New York City’s largest municipal union agreed to a new contract on Wednesday, becoming another important piece of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s ongoing efforts to settle an unprecedented labor situation.

District Council 37, which represents more than 100,000 city workers in a variety of jobs, agreed to a deal that will give them a cumulative 10 percent raise over seven years.

“This union is the glue that holds the city together in many ways,” said de Blasio in a City Hall press conference. “It’s long overdue. We’ve come to an agreement that we feel is very strong.”

DC 37, which represents a variety of employees from office workers to parks workers, has had an expired contract since 2010. They agreed to follow a pattern of raises established by the new teachers’ union contract, which was agreed to in May.

De Blasio has repeatedly said that he expects the city’s other unions — and nearly 150 still don’t have new contracts — to follow suit, though some of the emergency service unions, like the one that represents rank-and-file police officers, have called for bigger raises.

More than 60 percent of city workers now have new deals.

The cost of the DC 37 deal over the next four years is $1.75 billion. Administration officials said that the deal will include health care savings that will bring down the cost to about $995 million.

This article appeared in print on page 5 of the July 3rd, 2014 edition of Hamodia.