District Council 37 members ratify contract
by an overwhelming 96.8%

• DC 37 Economic Agreement:
  Terms of Proposed Contract Agreement (PDF)*

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts announced today that members of District Council 37, the city's largest public employees' union, have voted overwhelmingly by 96.8% to ratify the wage pact recently negotiated between the union and the City of New York. The contract covers the period from July 1, 2005, through March 2, 2008.

"We listened to our members needs and clearly we met them. I am pleased that DC 37 members recognized this contract's value by overwhelmingly voting 'yes' even in locals whose presidents voted 'no,' " said Ms. Roberts. "I want to thank our hard-working, dedicated public employees who deserve a contract that provides them with adequate income, health benefits and housing options. This contract does that and more."

The votes cast totaled 55,543. A total of 94,913 ballots were mailed out and 59% were returned. The outcome was 53,773 for and 1,740 against - an overwhelming 96.8% voting in favor of ratification. There were 30 ballots that were declared blank and void.

The tentative contract agreement was reached on July 12, 2006. The ratification vote was conducted in accordance with the DC 37 Constitution, which mandates that all union-wide contract votes be conducted by an independent third party. The American Arbitration Association (AAA) mailed ballots out to the members on August 4, 2006. Ballots had to be received at the AAA by 9:00 a.m. on Friday, August 25, 2006.

Under terms of the new agreement, which contains no pension or benefits concessions, members will receive 3.15% on 7/1/05 compounded, 2% on 8/1/06 compounded, and 4% on 2/1/07 compounded. There will be an additional compensation fund of .34% for each bargaining unit. The Welfare Fund will receive approximately $40 million in additional funding. There is an agreement to support legislation to modify the Residency restriction to allow employees to live in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Orange, Rockland and Putnam counties. The Transit Check program will be extended to cover LIRR, LI MTA buses and MetroNorth transportation carriers. A salary panel will be established to review selected titles and occupational groups to determine salary adjustments and other compensation modifications.

District Council 37 represents 121,000 members in more than 1,000 job titles from 56 local unions.

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