June 30, 2005
Time for Fair Contracts
I was happy to learn yesterday that the State arbitration panel handling the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association contract dispute awarded our officers a significant raise. The ten percent salary increase over two years, including retroactive pay, is an important step forward in bringing NYPD salaries up to the levels of surrounding communities.
With the DC37 contract that the Mayor wants to use as a model already set to expire, the PBA decision creates a more reasonable benchmark for our other municipal unions, although I am deeply disturbed by the drastic cut in first year pay.
Last night I was interviewed on NY1’s Road to City Hall. In the green room before my segment I spoke with PBA President Pat Lynch who was also on. He told me that right now many recruits, rookies and second year officers do not make enough money to afford their own homes or apartments in the City – in fact, many still live with their parents. Nearly all must take out loans to afford the cost of uniforms and equipment.
Paying someone who risks his or her life every day to protect us only $25,000 a year in New York City simply isn’t enough - and will make recruiting new officers difficult.
Our teachers are also currently in arbitration. Teachers are the heroes of our school system and have been working for two years without a contract. That is unacceptable. We lose 40% of new teachers within their first three years – an absolutely staggering figure – and much of this has to do with the fact that we simply do not pay salaries comparable to other cities and towns.
We should use the PBA raise as a new benchmark to ensure a fair contract for teachers. But given the severe problems with both recruitment and retention, we cannot accept an agreement that lowers starting salaries.
I want to help lead a City that values the vital contributions that our teachers, police officers and firefighters make - and shows how much we value their work by paying them salaries that allow them to still live good lives within a City that is increasingly unaffordable to too many of them.
Brian
Posted by Brian at June 30, 2005 03:27 PM
