Mayor Adams Announces Tentative Agreement With Doctors Council SEIU to Deliver Raises for 500 City-Employed Physicians, Including Medical Examiners

December 16, 2024

Agreement Provides Wage Increases and Bonuses to Members,
Secures Fair Deal for NYC Taxpayers, Improves Recruitment and Retention
Administration Has Now Settled Contracts with Unions
Representing Over 97 Percent of Municipal Employees

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Office of Labor Relations (OLR) Commissioner Renee Campion today announced a tentative five-year contract agreement with the Doctors Council Service Employees International Union (SEIU). This agreement will cover approximately 500 city employees, including NYC Health + Hospitals and New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene physicians and medical examiners in the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). 

The tentative agreement is retroactive — beginning on June 28, 2021 — and expires on December 27, 2026.  It conforms to the pattern established by dozens of other unions over the last 22 months. The agreement includes wage increases of 3 percent for each of the first four years of the contract and 3.25 percent in the fifth year. The agreement also includes a lump sum ratification bonus of $3,000 for employees who are in active payroll status and in a title covered by the agreement. It also includes enhancements to the City Medical Examiner Teaching Differential — increased to $20,876 — and improvements to salary increase schedules for medical examiners.

“Our doctors and medical examiners are the unsung heroes of our city, providing New Yorkers with the care they need and the answers they deserve in their most difficult times, and through this agreement, we are ensuring they receive the fair pay they deserve,” said Mayor Adams. “This agreement will also help our public hospitals and OCME recruit and retain talent, so that we can provide quality service to New Yorkers and protect public health. From doctors to teachers to probation officers, our administration will always invest in the working-class people of New York City, and we are proud to have achieved these crucial labor agreements in record-time.”

“I am proud to have reached an agreement that provides fair and reasonable wage increases for the physicians that serve our most vulnerable city residents,” said OLR Commissioner Campion. “I would like to thank Doctors Council President Frances Quee and Executive Director Trevor Bolden for their collaboration that allowed us to reach this agreement.”
Members will receive the following compounded wage increases:

• June 28, 2021: 3.00 percent
• June 28, 2022: 3.00 percent
• November 28, 2023: 3.00 percent
• June 28, 2024: 3.00 percent
• June 28, 2025: 3.25 percent

The Adams administration’s efforts to reach this agreement builds on its success in reaching agreements to provide fair wage increases for city employees since coming into office. In the last 22 months, Mayor Adams has successfully negotiated contracts with unions representing nearly 97 percent of the city's workforce. These agreements with District Council 37, the Communications Workers of America Local 1180, the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association, the Uniformed Sanitation Workers' Union Local 831, the United Federation of Teachers, the Police Benevolent Association, the Uniformed Officers Coalition, the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, Teamsters Local 237, the United Probation Officers’ Association, and dozens of other unions have all included wage increases, including retroactive wage increases for employees that had not received a raise in years. Additionally, many of these contracts included dedicated funding to address retention and recruitment challenges and other important benefits.

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