Photo Courtesy of Mayoral Photography Office
Mayor Adams and UFT President Michael Mulgrew celebrate the tentative pact.
By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday announced that the City has reached a tentative five-plus-year contract agreement with the United Federation of Teachers (UFT).
This agreement will cover approximately 120,000 municipal employees, bringing the total workforce under contract to approximately 67 percent.
The tentative agreement is retroactive, beginning on Sept. 14, 2022, and expires on Nov. 28, 2027. It conforms to the economic pattern established by the agreement with District Council (DC) 37 earlier this year, and includes wage increases of three percent for each of the first three years of the contract, 3.25 percent in the fourth year, and 3.50 percent in the fifth year. The agreement also includes a $3,000 lump sum ratification bonus for all UFT members and a first-of-its-kind annual retention payment to be paid in May of each year, beginning with $400 in 2024, $700 in 2025, and $1,000 in 2026 and every year thereafter. These payments will help the City retain its educators, especially those earning lower annual salaries.
The tentative agreement also establishes City public schools as the first major school system in the nation to offer an expansive voluntary virtual learning program, ultimately available to all high school students and at least some middle school students. This virtual learning program will give students access to a much broader set of course offerings across the city and the ability to take classes at non-traditional times, like evenings and weekends, and is not a substitute for in-person learning. Additionally, this groundbreaking initiative will allow New York City public schools to expand course offerings to students who don’t currently have access to the full range of accelerated courses, and to reach students for whom traditional in-person schedules don’t work, for example students with full-time jobs. Further, teachers leading virtual classes will have the option of teaching from locations that work best for their class. Virtual classes will be offered through a citywide program as well as through school-based programs.
The tentative agreement must be ratified by UFT’s membership, and would apply to teachers, paraprofessionals, school secretaries, guidance counselors, psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, physical therapists, staff nurses, and supervisors of school security.
The total cost of the tentative UFT agreement through Fiscal Year 2027 will be $6.4 billion, which is funded in the labor reserve in the proposed Fiscal Year 2024 Executive Budget.
In addition to wage increases planned over the next five-plus years, the tentative agreement includes:
- Annual Retention Payments: UFT members will receive a retention payment of $400 in May of 2024, $700 in May of 2025, and $1,000 in May of 2026 and every May thereafter.
- Virtual Learning Program: The DOE will offer an expansive voluntary virtual learning program to all high school students and some middle school students. This program will allow for flexible class scheduling, like weeknights and weekends, and the opportunity for educators to teach virtually.
UFT members will receive the following compounded wage increases:
Sept. 14, 2022: 3 percent
Jan. 18, 2024: 3 percent
Jan. 18, 2025: 3 percent
Sept. 14, 2025: 3.25 percent
Sept. 14, 2026: 3.50 percent
