City, probation union reach a provisional contract deal

City labor officials and the union representing the city’s roughly 600 probation officers and their supervisors have arrived at a tentative contract agreement both sides hope will help replenish the titles' ranks.

If approved by the rank and file, the five-and-a-half-year deal, retroactive to November 2020, would deliver United Probation Officers Association POs and supervising POs four compounded wage increases of 3 percent each to cover the fallow pay-raise period from May 2021 through November 2023. 

A final 3.25-bump would go into effect Nov. 28. The agreement,  whose terms essentially conform to the pattern established for civilian unions, runs through June 2026.

According to the provisional deal, the starting salary for probation officers would jump to $61,386 from $45,934, an increase of about 33 percent, beginning Nov. 28. Top pay in that title would reach $81,000. Supervising POs would start at $86,500, with top pay reaching $95,100. Those who would earn above those rates according to the contract’s pattern increases will be kept whole.

The UPOA’s president, Dalvanie Powell, said she was hopeful the deal’s improved pay rates would help attract and retain probation officers. The department has lost dozens of officers in the last year to better paying jurisdictions, with some leaving even before they complete their academy training, she said. 

“It’s really bad right now. And our hope is that with this contract, we'll be able to attract more people to come and stay,” Powell said Friday alongside Mayor Eric Adams and other city officials at the contract's announcement at City Hall. “So hopefully this will be a boost and help us alleviate some of the pressure that the remaining officers are dealing with now having to carry those extra caseloads.” 

Powell credited Probation Commissioner Juanita N. Holmes, a former NYPD chief of patrol, with “some really good ideas and initiatives” but added that those are “kind of challenging.” She did not elaborate, but suggested that a greater number of probation officers would lessen the burden on current staff, “to give much more love that we need to give to the case.”

The contract also includes ratification bonuses of $3,600 for probation officer trainees, $4,355 for probation officers, and $5,080 for supervising probation officers for all UPOA members who are on the active payroll on the ratification date.

Powell said the union would meet with Department of Probation and city representatives to discuss modified work schedules and remote work possibilities. 

At the City Hall announcement, Adams said that although the probation officers’ mission “is often overlooked," it is no less important given the officers’ role.

“Probation officers work tirelessly to keep our city safe by helping justice-involved people get back and stay on the right path," he said, adding that the contract's terms would help us recruit and retain probation personnel. 

But, as he has several times recently, Adams also noted that it is becoming increasingly difficult to attract candidates to key law enforcement and criminal justice jobs, including probation officers. “And so this is a real, this is a national problem that we need to look at. There needs to be a real infusion of resources across this country to recruit, retain law enforcement ... throughout this entire country,” he said. 

If it is approved, it’s unclear what effect the deal would have on a 2021 federal lawsuit the UPOA filed against the city and the Probation Department alleging patterns of discrimination on pay and promotions that harm mostly women and persons of color within its membership. The parties held a status conference late last month. 

The Office of Labor Relations’ first deputy commissioner, Daniel Pollak, said the contract is fully funded through Fiscal Year 2028. The Adams administration has now secured labor agreements covering about 97 percent of the city's workforce, he added. 

richardk@thechiefleader.com

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