Mayor Adams Announces Tentative Agreement With Sanitation Workers, Setting Record for Fastest Administration to Reach Agreements With 90 Percent of City's Unionized Workforce

October 27, 2023

Agreement Provides Fair Wage Increases and Aligns Collection Goals With Modern Realities of Waste Management

 Builds on Adams Administration’s Bold Steps to Make New York the Cleanest Big City in America

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Office of Labor Relations (OLR) Commissioner Renee Campion today announced a tentative contract agreement with the Uniformed Sanitation Workers’ Union Local 831 that provides fair wage increases to the men and women tasked with keeping the city’s streets clean. With this agreement, the city has now reached agreements with 90 percent of the unionized workforce under Mayor Adams’ administration — the quickest any mayoral administration has reached that milestone in modern city history. Today’s agreement also marks agreements with all of the city’s uniformed workforce.

The five-year, two-month tentative agreement — which would cover approximately 7,100 New York City sanitation workers — is retroactive, beginning on December 28, 2022, and expires on February 27, 2028. It provides pattern-conforming wage increases between 3.25 and 4.00 percent, consistent with the agreement with the Police Benevolent Association in this year’s round of bargaining. Additionally, today’s agreement offers dedicated funding to improve the early steps of the salary schedule, helping to bring starting pay up to $50,000 by the end of the contract term. Further, workers will be entitled to a new paid parental leave benefit for non-birth parents of one week of parental leave at full pay.

The tentative agreement also includes an update to the measurement of workforce efficiency around waste collection. For decades, the city’s contract with Local 831 included separate targets for refuse and for recyclables. As the Adams administration’s curbside composting expands citywide, this new contract instead sets a single “all materials” target, a reflection of the modern realities of waste management in New York City.

“New York’s Strongest have always been heroes, but in the last three years, they have stepped up more than ever on behalf of our city, taking on new responsibilities in every corner of the five boroughs and returning the dignity of clean streets to our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Adams. “Our administration, thanks to the hard work of our sanitation workers, is restoring New York City to its rightful place as the cleanest big city in America. I want to congratulate every sanitation worker on this agreement, as well as thank my friend, Harry Nespoli, and my team, led by Commissioner Campion and Commissioner Tisch, for their leadership.”

“This contract recognizes the vital work that sanitation workers perform in keeping our streets clean and provides them the same pattern-conforming wage increases provided to other uniformed unions in this round of bargaining, as well as provides an important parental leave benefit and reforms of contractual productivity programs,” said OLR Commissioner Campion. “I thank Harry Nespoli and Commissioner Tisch for their partnership in reaching this agreement and every sanitation worker for doing their part — and now they have a tentative settlement that matches that work.”
“This contract reflects the essential role of all sanitation workers — people who never worked from home, never wavered in their commitment, and never gave up on our city,” said New York City Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “Harry Nespoli has been a terrific partner every step of the way, helping this department to innovate and to provide the highest level of service possible, and I want to congratulate him and all members of Local 831 on this historic agreement.”

“With this contract, we have shown once again how this union works collaboratively with this agency to benefit the residents of New York City while providing justified compensation and benefits for the workforce,” said Harry Nespoli, president, Uniformed Sanitation Workers’ Union Local 831. “I commend Mayor Adams for recognizing the contributions of our members and Commissioner Tisch for her innovative approach to improving the life of all New Yorkers.” 
The total cost of the agreement is approximately $400 million through Fiscal Year 2027. It is fully funded in the Labor Reserve.

The agreement must be ratified by the union’s membership.

Members will receive the following compounded wage increases upon ratification:

• December 28, 2022: 3.25 percent
• December 28, 2023: 3.25 percent
• December 28, 2024: 3.50 percent
• December 28, 2025: 3.50 percent
• December 28, 2026: 4.00 percent

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