 Good morning everyone. Thank you for joining us here this morning. We have a very important announcement For both the city and also for a very high number of our valuable employees here in the city And a day that is a very important one For all of them. So without further ado, I will introduce our mayor Eric Adams Thank You Brendan and Today we are announcing the contract settlement with DC 37 This is not only a professional moment for me, but it's a personal moment Many people know on a campaign trail. I talked about my mom being a DC 37 food service worker and I used to wonder as a child. Why would she carry The Tupperware with her to work every day But she would come home being a proud woman Filled with the leftovers from working in the kitchen at Amstead Daycare Center And she would just state that they stole cooked the food a little better She did not want to tell us that she could not afford on her salary to be able to Buy the groceries that she needed to raise my five siblings and me And I thought about that later in life as I was on a campaign trail And as I saw it throughout the years of becoming eventually a DC 37 member myself in the Kings County district attorney's office Never make it enough to make ends meet always seem to be behind the bill collectors and Just wondering if we will be able to get the right contract Let's just make the right agreements make to have the right health care and to have the right just to be able to Provide for our families Then later becoming a union member in the police department and serving there for 22 years This is in my blood and it was so important for me to settle this contract with this union Hearing garrito is not only a good union leader. He's a good New Yorker He has taken into account How do you negotiate? In a very strong way on behalf of your members But also understand the fullness of the problems that this city is facing How do we lift up our members? But at the same time Make sure we come together and sit down and find solutions To these amazing Moments that we are in it was hearing garrito who planted the seed as we were looking at the employment Crises that we were having in city services that created the concept of a hiring hall that we held Just a few days ago But hearing garrito looked at the challenges that we are facing with our Healthcare fund and coming up with thoughtful ways of addressing them I think that when the final analysis is written during this period of time You're going to find that not only do we have as I stated a great union leader But a great new yorker and I cannot thank you enough for your leadership during these difficult times. I Have not made this a secret That I am a blue collar mayor. I believe in the working men and women of this city and What we have to offer and today I am Extremely proud to announce we have reached a landmark labor agreement with DC 37 One of the city largest public sector unions in the backbone of our city government This tentative agreement covers a hundred thousand City workers 911 operators who work around the clock to ensure our safety Social service workers who protect our city's children the people helping your kids cross the street Who feed our children in schools as food service workers and a dedicated city workers who staffed in your libraries and your parks? This is the first tentative agreement. We have reached under this administration It's a great deal for workers and fair to the city taxpayers And wouldn't have to happen without the tireless effort of Our office of Labor Relations Commissioner Ray Renee Renee called me late last night I heard my council Brendan McGuire were up late last night and they called me and shared That we were going to land the plane And the dedicated members of this great union that stands behind me as many of them I've known for so many years Delcey and I were transit police officers together and now she is in charge of one of the locals I want to thank all of them for what they have done and how they played a part and getting this done this tentative agreement on a five-year contract that provides three percent annual raises for The first four years and three point two five in the fifth year The deal also includes a ratification bonus of three thousand dollars for employees active on the date the agreement is ratified As part of this agreement the city and DC 37 will also create a 70 million dollar equity fund to support recruitment and retention Thoughtful we realize that the post kept COVID era has brought a new dimension to work And how we are retaining and having flexibilities and work schedule is something we must face But when you have over three hundred thousand employees, you cannot do it with a knee-jerk reaction You must be thoughtful and calculative and make sure you bring equity and how it is carried out We're also going to raise the minimum pay rate for any DC 37 title covered by this agreement to 18 dollars an hour above the statewide minimum wage This agreement also established a committee to explore the flexible flexible scheduling and other measures to improve employee morale and retention The committee will produce a pilot program that includes remote work By no later than June 1st of this year keeping in mind equity all the way Under this agreement a late labor management pandemic response committee will be created to discuss issues related To pandemic response to make sure we're prepared for the next pandemic We cannot be caught like we were the last time and that includes PPEs that union leaders Had to fight To ensure that their members were receiving the proper PPEs during the last pandemic This agreement also established a union minister fund to help DC 37 members with child care expenses Really the brainchild of Henry Guarito's Understanding that child care is crucial for those members Who he represents and the city will also contribute with a three million dollar a year Contribution to this fund And as a former union member in the city employee, I know how hard DC 37 members work for this city I know what they went through but during the pandemic they did not surrender They did not give up they rose to the occasion and today this agreement is our opportunity To state that they matter we know who they are and we are with you We need DC 37 we need every aspect of their contribution to the city When you dial 911 There's a DC 37 member on the other side when your child crosses the street on their way to school There's a DC 37 member making sure that they're safe When you see your children walk through the cafeteria to get food those food service workers are DC 37 members every aspect of our lives is is represented by The men and women of DC 37 it's a proud moment for me as a mayor of this city It's a proud moment as a son of Dorothy Adams a DC 37 member. Thank you, Henry It's now my pleasure to introduce the executive director of DC 37 Henry Guarito Good morning Let me first start by thanking the mayor for that his kind words and the kind address and introduction I want to particularly thank commissioner Campion for the hard work Rendon and the team on the city of New York and negotiating this contract But I also want to take a moment to thank my team members Jamila Edwards and Rose Lobagu Miller who are part of this amazing team In addition to the local presidents that make the bargaining committee About 60 of them that participated in a lone marathon negotiations, but most importantly I want to take the moment to thank the members of DC 37 to keep the city running Who sacrifices during the worst pandemic the city has ever seen kept the city going at a time when New Yorkers needed the most You know, I've been here. This is gonna be my 27th year in DC 37. I have been in every position Conceivable within the union. This is by far the most challenging and the most difficult negotiations. We have had to go through Because of the problems with health care as you heard the mention the mayor mentioned Because of the difficulties of the pandemic because of the hard to recruit Titles because of challenges like flexible work schedule And so I want to take a moment to thank the members for their patients and and and their Support for the union as we went through this very difficult process. Look, it's collective bargaining agreement We are announcing today those three fundamental things first he provides a fair and reasonable wage for our members in and fair for the taxpayers as well, and so we want to acknowledge that work Secondly, it addresses some of the biggest challenges for the lowest-paid city workers Setting up a minimum wage of $18 an hour where folks are trying to figure this out in Albany and other places around the country It's a very big deal to the thousands of DC 37 members who are struggling every day So I want to personally thank the mayor and acknowledging that in a city this big with so many challenges People who make minimum wage are struggling just to keep ends meet with the way the inflation is going So raising that minimum wage for those thousands of workers. It was really important and thirdly And I think equally is important We need to become a remain competitive in city government and that means Thinking differently in the way that we hire recruit and retain workers That means a flexible one schedule one that acknowledges that the workplace has changed one that Provides the possibility for remote work where available and necessary one that allows and seeks a flex time and different work schedules for work for week days 10-hour schedules 12-hour schedules things that make sense that for years we've been trying to get But this is an opportunity and I'm glad to have been a partner with the mayor who was willing to listen To those difficult challenges because as he said we are in a situation where one side doesn't fit all It is now up to the members to the side. We are confident based on the feedback for the bargaining committee that our members are going to Ratify this contract, but it's really up to them right now Again on behalf of those members on behalf of the city of New York. Mr. Mayor your team. We want to thank you And This process was very difficult, but we got it done. Thank you very much And finally we will hear this morning from our tireless labor commissioner Rene Campione who is always a fierce advocate for the city, but who like the mayor Fully appreciates the contributions of our union employees, right? Thank you. Thank you, Brendan. First, I'd like to thank mayor Adams I want to thank you for putting your trust in me to represent you as the chief negotiator I really do appreciate that. I Also want to thank members of my team my negotiating team my first deputy Dan Pollock Who has been with me every step of the way through this entire process? He's actually a new dad Of only only four weeks. He has a new baby girl and but he's been with me So now hopefully he can spend a little bit more time doing that now I also like to thank members of the administration Sheena Wright the first deputy mayor Sylvia Heinz Riddick's the judge corporation council Ingrid Lewis Martin chief counsel to the mayor and Also, Brendan of course who has provided me with extreme extremely important counsel And was up with me until the wee hours as the mayor as the mayor mentioned and I want to thank Henry Guarido his His team Henry and his team. We've known each other for a long time Long time we've had worked with each other for many years and all long-standing Relationship has always assisted us in getting through the many challenges and difficult issues the city and the workforce Faces. We've always maintained a respectful working relationship that I know we all appreciate very much The mayor discussed the central components of this tentative agreement which provides fair wage increases to DC 37 members covered by the agreement while maintaining Responsibility to our city's taxpayers. I want to give a few more details about the agreement This deal goes back to May 26 2021 these workers have not seen a wage increase since before the start of COVID in 2019 So it goes back to May 26 21. It's a five-year five-month 18-day agreement. I'm sorry 12-day agreement It will expire on November 6th, 2026 The extra five months and 12 days extended the extending the contract allows us to fund many of the items included in this tentative agreement The mayor mentioned there's a number of wage increases. There are four 3% wage increases one in each year and a 3.25% increase in the final year Retroactive to the first day of the contract. So to be more specific May 26, 2021 3% general wage increase all employees May 26, 2022 3% wage increase and that is compounded to all employees May 26 2023 a 3% wage increase all employees compounded May 26 2024 3% and May 26 2025 a 3.25 percent increase the total compounded wage increases total 16.21% There's also ratification bonus that the mayor mentioned. There's a lump sum bonus of three thousand dollars for employees active on payroll at the time The agreement is ratified There's also we created through this agreement and equity fund the city in DC 37 agreed to create an equity fund Which sets aside funding to be used for particular positions experiencing severe recruitment and retention challenges Or where there's been a significant change in job duties This equity fund will allow us to direct dollars where they are most needed in a time when many occupations in the city of New York Are experiencing recruitment and retention challenges? There will be a panel we did this before in the last agreement There will be a similar panel consisting of one DC 37 representative one city representative and a neutral party Who will make determinations about where to direct this funding the value of this funding is approximately 73 million dollars? Next is the $18 minimum rate and that is effective July this July 1st 2023 All DC 37 titles covered by this agreement will receive a minimum of $18 per hour as of July 1st 2023 The cost of this increase about 10 million dollars will be funded by the equity fund that I previously mentioned Next is the child care trust fund DC 37 will establish a child care trust fund to provide support for its members as Henry described The fund will receive three million dollars every year going forward from the city as part of this overall agreement Next is the work flexibility committee the city and the union will establish a committee to discuss work Flexibility and other measures to enhance employee morale and recruitment and retention. We have heard the workers loud and clear Our joint goal of establishing we have a joint goal now of establishing a remote work pilot Within 60 days after ratification by June 1st of 2023 We will discuss together the union and the city representatives other work flexibility arrangements in addition to remote work including flexible scheduling Compress work weeks as well as transit benefits and any other measures that can improve Employee morale and enhance the city's ability to recruit and retain employees to best serve the public The pandemic response committee I heard this my team and I heard this throughout the bargaining how important and we met Time and time hour after hour on this to deal with particular safety and health issues that the members of DC 37 were concerned about So we'll be having a joint committee a standalone joint committee established to discuss issues related to pandemic response To ensure the city and workers are ready in the event of another pandemic The city is also committing to maintain an adequate stockpile of PPE Personal protective equipment which includes hand sanitizer gloves and face masks To be clear this agreement will provide the economic framework for the city's labor negotiations for this round of bargaining This is our first deal We still have a long way to go a lot of work ahead of us with negotiating the rest of the city's contracts But we will have taken the first big step today and I look forward to negotiating contracts with the rest of the city workforce Thank you Take a few questions Talk a little bit about the evolution of your thinking on remote work You before I think had talked about it In the sense that you wanted the city's workforce in Manhattan sort of stimulating the economy So sort of how is your thinking changed on this? No, it's it's it's not my evolution and you know people keep defining it as my evolution and it's just not My personal beliefs. Can I get in the way of running the city of this level of complexity? I clearly stated that we must have equity Of there are jobs in this union and in this city that cannot work remotely Our police officers our nurses Our firefighters our transit operators And so as we make this shift into the post pandemic reality We must do it in a thoughtful way in partnership with the union Uh a knee jerk reaction of just stating that everything is remote work overnight will disrupt our city and disrupt our economy There have been those who have been calling for it And not realizing that we were in deep conversations with the union and saying how do we do this in a thoughtful way That is what we we must do because i'm a seven day a week in the office person That's not the reality of the universe. We're living in right now, but we have to be thoughtful. We saw the numbers Uh remote work citywide as could be a 12 billion dollar hit to our our tax base These are real numbers and it's imperative that we do it right and that is what uh the head of this union Henry and I have been very clear that let's be thoughtful Let's bring everyone in the room together and make sure we make the right decisions for the city Is are there any health care concessions that you expect for the taxpayers? We Well, the union members are the taxpayers This is the uniqueness of what I believe Unions in general, but Specifically this union, uh, they are directly in line and what I was extremely impressed with is how much You know, Henry was very focused on we got to navigate this city out of this crisis and the We are still at the table looking at the health care Issues that we're facing I'm at I'm joined at the hip with this union on reigning in health care course You know every time they negotiate a good contract They have to deal with these high health care Course and we are sent down. We're looking at where to get health care Savings and we're committed to that and we're looking looking forward to that We didn't go into this this contract negotiation of saying what can we take from you? That was not our atmosphere and that was not our thought our thought was how do we work together? And this union was very clear We know the we know what you're facing eric. We know what the city is facing How do we make sure that we get a win-win here? And that's what we were able to accomplish It covers one fourth of the municipal workforce, but you indicated there's more negotiations to come Can you tell me more about pattern bargaining? And if you had sucked away 1.25 percent raises across the board and this sets the pattern three percent raises How's the budgeting done for the rest of that? So i'll defer to the budget director on the budgeting But let me just take the first the first set of questions So we consider we consider this the economic framework under which we will be bargaining I'm in bargaining right now with many unions There are many different phases early days one session two sessions some some groups. I've been meeting with the uft for several months Impossible to say when you know what the next agreement will be we'll continue working on that To the extent that these wage increases The the the value the net the net the net cost of these wage increases Will be that will be the economic framework under which we will be going forward with all of the unions going forward John Yeah, as you know, we currently included in the budget we included the budget about 1.25 percent So that additional expense that we have we've been planning for this all along Through the measures we have taken in the past year in terms of all the savings measures we have taken Just to deal In anticipation of this deal So this is we were well prepared for this For this segment Yeah, this is one of our biggest strength and also our biggest challenge right we represent over a thousand titles Making people making as low as 25,000 dollars a year and people making as high as 200,000 plus a year So the idea of a percentage increase is always a challenge the diversity People who can work remotely people who can and I have to say That none of this could have happened without the trust and the partnership we have I have personally with this mayor and I want to thank him for it Something was said earlier for instance about what are the concessions for the unions? And I think that's the wrong approach the approach that you have to take from workers to give him something back Is an erroneous approach Rather what we've done is created partnership We talk about the challenges confronting the city and the workers themselves So we're still committed to saving hundreds of millions of dollars in health care Not necessarily by charging the workers more but by being smarter in the way we procure services that we Have relationship with hospitals and providers the way we provide prescription medication Health care is as the mayor has said in his old life And has been a challenge of my life as well has been a big challenge and been a major topic of our discussions And how we approach it is not from the perspective of of concessions, but a perspective of partnership Um, I think you alluded to our challenge on our diversity And I think this is the challenge with pattern bargaining right because what 3 percent means To a person with 200,000 dollars means a lot more financially. That's somebody who's making 25 That was what was especially about this deal That this deal both raises the wages from the bottom tier of the workers In a way that's been unprecedented by not only raising the minimum wage but Giving them the access and the benefit for the lowest paid workers Addresses the middle group by creating an equity fund That allows for recruitment and retentions hard to recruit titles that are being competitive in the market right now nurses health care and other Titles that we represent that the private sector is trying to poach from city government But also addresses some of the flexibility of the work of the higher tier workers high pay workers Who are demanding things like remote work a child care as a big issue Now if you're a first responders and you have to go And respond to a crisis and We certainly have a lot more of them right now mental health is being a big Uproar and you don't have a place where you can leave your child in a safe manner What does that do to you right you have the challenge you're either answering the call From the city or answering the call from acs who may put you in challenge if you leave your child shown protected This agreement does that so what's special about this agreement? It's not just the economics of the wages But the fact that with this partnership we approach all of those big challenges lower wages higher wages flexible workforce child care and other pieces Health and safety which has been a big issue for us We saw so many dc 37 workers died in the middle of the pandemic because they did not have access to critical personal protected equipment But this agreement does all of those things so i'm very proud of what we've done today Mr. Mayor, so on the book going back to the remote work aspect You said it's actually a negative hit to the city's coffers But this includes a program that would work through that a little bit. What happens to the workers that can't work remote? What kind of what what do they get out of this and how will you guys section out? Who's working remote who's not and and that is why it is so important What I think is going to get lost in this conversation is the word partnership When I look at Sean Francois who represented food service workers in the school crossing guards Being on the front line with him as he was handing out PPE to his members those members cannot do that remotely There are members of the union who can and by putting together this panel We can sit down and have a healthy conversation On how do we make this evolution? And what work looks like and that question is not going to be answered today It's going to be answered by deliberation Of proper communication so that we could make sure that we do it in the right way You know as I as I keep emphasizing There were you know, it was a lot There were a lot of calls to tell us just to do a knee-jerk reaction And you can't do that when you run a city this complex Some of that money that is not in central Manhattan is now going to smaller corridors throughout the city So we need to factor that in we need to factor in What do we do with those workers who as you stated must come in? And that is the thoughtfulness that we must approach this to because this is a major shift And how this city is going to operate I'm going to be in favor of whatever the committee comes out with The committee will sit down. They will have a communication They will weigh the pros and cons the beauty of this is that the committee is going to be speaking on behalf Of those who could do remote work and those who can't so we're going to have a balanced approach to this And the thoughtfulness of the committee I'm going to sit down and look at look at their recommendations and make sure That it assists with what we try to do in the city Let me let me just add to that because I think this is important to look at it just from the perspective of those who can and cannot Remote work. I think it's it's a little short-sighted Like what we saw Is in this process where people will go into the pandemic is that we needed a different approach So the approach for instance on the transit chain Check enhancement program for those who have to come in it's a benefit for those who have to come in But also staggered shifts are people coming in all at once We talked about a four hour a four day week at ten hours. Does that make sense? Where does it make sense those 12 hour shift makes sense in order to reduce over time And flexibility work. So it's not just can you remote work? Can you not but can we be flexible enough to reflect the challenges of the workplace today? And we thought that it would be You know sort of like Limiting ourselves by just doing a yes or no But rather we were looking at the entire population. We have a complex workforce Complex agencies and we have to deliver to the public to the taxpayers. There are a lot of agencies that had Frontline that can do it Where public goes in and faces the agencies But there's a lot of processes that could be done online That you could do online necessarily you don't need an office space for somebody to apply for instance For food stamps online and you can do that online anymore Can you look at the workforce and make sure that those processes Fit the work rather than just say remote work or not Can you say who's going to be on this committee? What parties are going to be a part of the discussion? Who will be on the remote work of the flexible work committee which parties will be a part of these discussions talking about what this will look like What would be part? I don't know why I'm not able to hear you Who will be on the committee? It's going to be why don't you do it? Yeah, so the members of the committee have not been Not been established, but clear it's clear that we've all agreed that it's going to have an equal number of union representatives And an equal number of city representatives on the committee. I volunteer I think I'm I think I'm with you. I think I'm right there People from different titles people who might have more flexibility to work remotely as well as those People that's not a possibility for So each of the different each of the different parties are going to make their own determinations on who's going to be the members of the committee You know and first of all These are transformative times and I'm excited about this You know, I keep saying to my first deputy mayor When we walk through the museum of the city of new york and they reflect on this administration We are making decisions right now that's going to impact what the city is going to look like in the future And so i'm excited about all of these things. I'm excited about the challenges of remote work or not I'm excited about the challenges of dealing with large number of asylum seekers I'm excited about making our city safe and our subway safe All of these things are this is the moment. This is why I became the mayor I did not become the mayor to climb a hill. I became the mayor to climb a mountain And these are mountains that we must climb and so I don't go into them Saying what with me I go into them saying why not me? Why not my administration? Why not the leadership of this union? What we do is going to impact the city of new york. It's going to impact the country So we're going to solve the problems that the country must solve and address every mayor I speak with Tell me they have this problem Every mayor I sat down with international leaders the other day. They have this problem So we're not running away from it. We're running towards it because that's what leadership is about So We don't work remotely with any colleagues With a whole lot of your colleagues Experts have told me that we don't really know what the post-pandemic workplace is really going to look like Does the contract offer flexibility that let's say two years from now, you know people are back in their offices in midtown Does the contract offer flexibility that you know at that time we're like, all right It's it's clear people are people want to come back to the offices And we're gonna pull back that option now Well, you know, first of all, I I think um working in the office saves marriages, but that's up to me to believe, you know But you know at the term that we use often in this administration pivot and shift Let's not become so rigid that when the opportunities come about that we have to pivot and shift We're afraid to do so. No, we would pivot and shift if the climate changes We're pivot and shift if whatever we face We're going to look at what's in front of us and pivot and shift and we're willing to do that And that's part of what the committee must sit down and come up with So How does that compute with the city Not having enough money for things like, you know, other things in the budget, migrant crisis, etc And where did you stash all this money? We didn't stash that money. We were preparing for that We were preparing for that deal. We we know that deal was coming and we'll be negotiating with the labor unions with For the past year So we knew that was coming and you guys been asking the same question over and over Why do you have only 1.25? One unit is going to be more. So we knew so we'll be we were preparing for this We're going to be looking for savings throughout city agencies like we always do Okay, and we have a plan to address this Well, we we we're going to take some measures to basically find ways to fund the deal Okay Very much