City/Sanitation Worker Contract Terms Tighten Pattern’s Noose Around PBA

It was strictly a coincidence that the tentative contract deal between the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association and the de Blasio administration was announced May 19—almost exactly the midpoint of the 88-month agreement that is retroactive to Sept. 21, 2011 and runs through Jan. 19, 2019.

But it was something other than random that the long delay—much of it prompted by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s unwillingness to engage in meaningful negotiations during his final term in office—having allowed a significant amount of retroactive money to accumulate made the deal attractive to USA President Harry Nespoli despite the relatively modest 11 percent in raises it would provide if approved by the union’s 6,000-plus members.