Local 1549 PCT/SPCT Communications Chapter at PSAC II 911 Call Center in the Bronx

By MIKE LEE

After several weeks of intense negotiations, the union won an agreement securing raises, retention bonuses, and compressed alternative work schedules for nearly 1,200 911 Operators in Local 1549 and their supervisors.

DC 37 and the Adams administration announced the new agreement on Jan. 22, 2024. The 911 Operators work from two Public Safety Answering Centers, one in Brooklyn and one in the Bronx.

“When the second center opened in the Bronx, we began having conversations about developing compressed tours for the workers,” said DC 37 Associate Director Rose Lovaglio-Miller who negotiated on behalf of 911 Operators during her tenure in the union’s Research and Negotiations Department. “We started with a limited program in 2018, then assessed and worked with the NYPD to expand it and make changes.”

The compressed tour agreement with the City was due to expire Dec. 31, 2023, and the NYPD indicated it wanted to stop the program. The union immediately negotiated with the Office of Labor Relations and NYPD to keep the program in place.

From mid-December until the Jan. 19 agreement, the two sides held several bargaining sessions.
The DC 37-negotiated agreement provides eligible 911 Operators and their supervisors with $10,000 recruitment and retention bonuses starting in 2024 that will be paid out twice per year in $5,000 increments.

After an initial push from the City for a 40-hour work week, Lovaglio-Miller added that the agreement maintains a 35-hour work week and compressed tours.

“In the past, the compressed tours were not available to everyone and now they are,” Lovaglio-Miller said.

The agreement includes sick leave procedures on seven, designated critical response days when worker absences tend to be higher.

“Our 911 Operators are the first point of contact when New Yorkers face the worst moments of their lives and they sacrifice so much for our city day in and day out,” Garrido said. “We fought to provide fair compensation, overtime limits, and additional relief for our members in these negotiations. We thank Mayor Adams for working with us to fix these inequities.”

As with a similar agreement providing compressed alternative schedules for City workers ineligible for hybrid work arrangements, the program for the 911 Operators is designed to curtail employee departures.

“We’re happy this agreement is done, but our work is never done,” Lovaglio-Miller said. “There’s much more we must do for all DC 37 members.”

As of press time, the 911 Operators in Local 1549 have voted to create a new DC 37 local, Local 5911.