By MIKE LEE

New York City Council Member Christopher Marte has introduced Intro. 1096-2024, a bill that would impede New York City municipal unions’ ability to collectively bargain — the most fundamental of labor rights.

The bill intends to amend the City’s Administrative Code to lock in a specific health care requirement for retirees without identifying any source of funding to pay for it. Intro. 1096 would also violate the Taylor Law and the City’s Collective Bargaining Law, setting a dangerous precedent in future contract negotiations.

“This bill would take a sledgehammer to the tenets of collective bargaining and put legislators in charge of negotiating the very benefits we enjoy as union members,” said Henry Garrido, DC 37 Executive Director.

As of press time, the following Council Members signed on to the bill: Joann Ariola, Erik D. Bottcher, Gale A. Brewer, Shahana K. Hanif, Robert F. Holden, Shekar Krishnan, Linda Lee, Kristy Marmorato, Mercedes Narcisse, Vickie Paladino, and Inna Vernikov.

DC 37 members and retirees should contact their City Council member and urge them not to support Intro. 1096.

“If our right to negotiate health care is taken away, it opens the door for other anti-union interests to come in and attempt to strip our collective bargaining rights in all issues,” Garrido said.

Click HERE to sign the petition from the DC 37 Retirees Association. Tell the New York City Council VOTE NO on Intro 1096!