Several hundred public school teachers and NYC Department of Education (DOE) employees gathered in Parkchester on May 24, as other school employees assembled at similar rallies across the City the same day, to demand a new employment contract with the City, a salary increase, less bureaucracy and smaller class sizes.

 

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) union held rallies in all five boroughs as Bronx teachers and staff gathered at Virginia Park, located between the Cross Bronx Service Road and Westchester Avenue.

“Lisa,” a School District 8 special education teacher, told Norwood News, “We’ve been without a contract since the last school year if I’m not mistaken. We’re looking for better pay, we’re looking for better maternity leave for mothers and parents. Overall, we’re just looking for more time to plan and collaborate with our colleagues.” Lisa added, “As a special education teacher, we’re looking for more time to write our IEPs [Individualized Education Programs] and to prepare documents for our students.”

 

Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, an invited guest on the day, told the DOE employees, “You have always been on the front lines. During the pandemic when the schools were open, serving meals, many of our teachers, our educators, our administrators were all there because we always show up in the good and bad times, and now it’s time for the City to show up for us, to make sure that we get a fair contract now.”

Gibson told the cheering crowd that her office has allocated $20 million next year that would go to local schools. The borough president told the crowd, “This capital funding is a necessity, and I do it because it’s the right thing to do, because if I don’t do it as your borough president, then I can’t ask for your support of me. It’s a partnership; we have to work together.”

 

Gibson concluded, telling the crowd, “I will go to the end of the earth for our children, if it means wearing sneakers and fighting the good fight, walking with all of you and demanding a fair contract, I will be with you because you deserve that and more.”

“Tammy,” a teacher at P.S. 30 on East 141st Street in Mott Haven, told Norwood News, “We want a fair contract with inflation. We’re trying to get paid like everybody else. It’s not right that cops get paid, everyone else gets paid, but we don’t get paid, and we’re there every day since the pandemic. Every day, we go in, it’s not three days a week, it’s five days a week, and we work when we go home too.” Tammy added, “We need smaller class sizes.”

 

According to the UFT, DOE employees have been working under a contract that expired on Sept. 13, 2022. On Tuesday, June 13, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the City had reached a tentative 5+ year contract agreement with the UFT, covering around 120,000 municipal employees, and bringing the total workforce under contract to approximately 66 percent.

The tentative agreement is retroactive, taking effect from Sept. 14, 2022, and expires on Nov. 28, 2027. UFT officials said it includes annual raises of 3%, 3%, 3%, 3.25% and 3.5% percent, an annual bonus which reaches $1,000 by 2026, a new top salary for the most experienced teachers of $151,271 including the bonus, and a new starting salary of $72,349, including the bonus, by the end of the proposed agreement, up from $61,070.

 

The top salary for paraprofessionals would be $56,761, including the bonus. Under the proposal, all UFT members would also receive a one-time ratification bonus of $3,000, plus their retro pay, which ranges from $853 to just over $4,000 depending on the job title and seniority.

 

Gibson later released a statement, saying, ““Congratulations to the United Federation of Teachers for reaching a tentative agreement with the City on behalf of your 120,000 members. This agreement symbolizes the deep appreciation and gratitude felt by so many of us that have observed your labor and resolve to engage and connect with our children even amid a global pandemic.”

 

The borough president added, “Despite the challenges and obstacles that have emerged, UFT continues to provide our children with the quality education and care that will prepare them to be the future leaders of our city. I want to thank Mayor Eric Adams, The Mayor’s Office of Labor Relations, UFT President, Michael Mulgrew, and everyone else involved in reaching this tentative agreement.”

 

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.