January 8, 2015
By Stephanie West
New York, NY — The City has reached a tentative contract agreement with Local 891 International Union of Operating Engineers, which represents public school custodians.
“I am pleased that the hard working members of Local 891 will receive their well-deserved raise. It is nice to finally have an administration that respects its workforce. Working collectively with Mayor de Blasio, Commissioner Linn and Chancellor Fariña, we were able to negotiate an agreement that is fair to my members and the taxpayers of the City. This agreement allows the administration to move forward with their educational priorities,” said Robert Troeller, President of Local 891.
Additionally, Local 891 has reached a tentative contract agreement with Local 94 International Union of Operating Engineers, which represents school firemen and stationary engineers who work primarily in the City’s public schools but are not employees of the City’s; rather, Local 891 serves as their individual employer.
Local 891’s 880 employees have worked without a contract since 2008; Local 94’s 1,147 employees have worked without a contract since 2007.
Two tentative agreements are consistent with the pattern established by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) contract earlier this year and require no new funding over previous budgetary projections. The proposed nine-year contract with Local 891 would begin, retroactively, on January 1, 2008 and expire on December 31, 2016. The proposed nine-year contract with Local 94 would begin, retroactively, on October 22, 2007 and expire on October 21, 2016.
The agreements also include the unprecedented health care savings agreed upon with the Municipal Labor Committee, ensuring that these raises are affordable and responsible for the City and its taxpayers.
“Although the agreement is not structured exactly as we had hoped, this agreement was a long time coming. We appreciate the efforts by the de Blasio administration to assure that our union, along with many other unions, can at last advance the economic interests of our members. We look forward to working closely with Mayor de Blasio in the future,” said Kuba Brown, President of Local 94.
