When this union meets with management on behalf of our members, we are there to win.
After intense negotiations in the past several months with the mayoral administration and state leaders, your union made unprecedented contractual agreements in our demands to provide alternative schedules, retention bonuses, and fair pay for most essential public workers.

These successes in our negotiations are historic and expectations are that other vital agreements are on the way.

We began the year by settling a contract on behalf of more than 10,000 members at the City University of New York, a significant victory at a time when concerns loom over both the City and State budgets. This five-year deal for our members at CUNY kicked off a string of victories for the union.

We forcefully pushed back against Mayor Adams’ effort to end funding late last year for 3,000 Job Training Participants (JTPs) in the Program to Eliminate the Gap. Workers entering this program take advantage of it as a gateway for careers in civil service.

JTPs are an integral part of the workforce in the City’s Department of Parks and Recreation, Department of Sanitation, and Human Resources Administration (HRA). After we called out the agencies for not following the law in upending this vital program, it didn’t take long for our arguments to turn the City’s “no” into a resounding “yes.”

As a result of last year’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, the joint Flexible Work Committee agreed to implement a historic compressed schedule for workers unable to work remotely. Once implemented, a large majority of DC 37 public sector members will benefit from this settlement.

Running against the clock, we engaged in intense negotiations with the NYPD and City officials that led to an agreement to provide pay increases and retention bonuses while maintaining compressed schedules for 911 Operators and their Supervisors.

We also negotiated retention bonuses and pay increases for Seasonal Lifeguards and Supervisors, and a pay raise for Local 372’s Level II School Crossing Guards retroactive to May 2023.

We secured recruitment and retention bonuses for active-duty Caseworkers serving at the Department of Social Services (DSS) and HRA. We won a new contract for State workers in the Rent Regulation Services Unit represented by Local 1359, and for High-pressure Plant Tenders and Urban Park Rangers in Local 983.

All of these victories came in a little more than a month’s time. While some people talk about doing something, we take action and succeed.

Yet, we maintain our focus and continue to push for equitable solutions and fairness for all our members and for the communities they serve. We don’t dwell on one month of significant progress — we continue to fight every month moving forward.

More than 200 DC 37 members returned from our Lobby Day in Albany on March 12 after meeting with State legislators to push our political agenda in support of working people.

The legislature is developing a budget by the April 1 deadline and this was our best opportunity to advocate for adequate funding and fair pay for our health and human services workers, particularly those at nonprofit organizations and private day care centers.

A critical priority this year is filling vacancies across City agencies. While there has been progress in recent weeks, our members feel the weight of picking up the slack, taking on added responsibilities and stress involved in doing the work of more than one person. Our elected leaders must be reminded that an efficient, fully staffed public workforce is critical to providing the services New Yorkers demand and deserve.

By now, you are familiar with our internal organizing campaign, with workplace visits to engage and hear from our diverse and expansive membership. Of all our work at DC 37, this is our most important endeavor because the victories we achieve derive from your participation and support.

A strong and effective union relies on informed members. With increased activism, new organizing, and future leaders developed from the ground up, we can achieve more and affect the positive change we want for our workplaces and our communities.