Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch, seen in October, and Mayor de Blasio have reached a tentative deal on a contract. (JAMES KEIVOM/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
NYPD police officers can look forward to raises of more than 11% if the tentative contract reached Tuesday with City Hall gets ratified by union members.
Details of the long-awaited pact were revealed in an afternoon news conference attended by Mayor de Blasio, top cop James O’Neill and Patrick Lynch, head of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the city’s largest police union.
Along with the 9% wage increase other unions got under pattern bargaining, cops will also get a 2.25% bump for de Blasio’s neighborhood policing program.
New PBA members will qualify for three-quarter disability pensions — a benefit that had been downgraded for rookies — with only a 1% employee contribution.
The PBA will get the smaller contributions and three-quarter pensions through state legislation the city agreed to support.
“This resolution is long overdue. It’s weighed heavily on the minds of all of us for a very long time. I’m glad we can put it all behind us now,” said Police Commissioner O’Neill.
De Blasio said the tentative accord — which includes a stipulation that all patrol officers be equipped with body cameras by the end of 2019 — will improve city safety.
“This agreement represents a big step forward for a vision of safety in which police and community are true partners,” the mayor said.
To pay for the extra 2.25% hike that would be given to all PBA members as of this March, the city would cut starting salaries for new hires — saving itself roughly $30,000 per cop over five years.
The reduced salary for NYPD rookies would be $42,500 — down from the $42,819 new hires earn now.
After a year and a half, officers would earn $45,000. They would get another $1,000 at 21/2 and 31/2 years — reaching $51,000 after 41/2 years.
Once they pass the five-year mark, pay jumps to $85,292.
If the contract is ratified, officers already on the payroll will get a raise of over 11%. That includes the 9.31% in pay hikes for the five years covered in the contract — but not the two years spent in arbitration — plus the 2.25% neighborhood policing differential.
The proposed contract would be retroactive to Aug. 1, 2012, with a 1% pay increase for the following two years. Retroactive to Aug. 1, 2014, cops would get an additional 1.5%, and then another 2.5% for the year after that.
The final step is retroactive to last Aug. 1, with a 3% increase.
As part of the deal, the PBA will drop its lawsuit against body cameras on cops.
Lynch praised the tentative deal for recognizing “the added responsibility and scrutiny we are under” as well as the intense training cops must undergo.
During negotiations, Lynch and his membership launched numerous attacks against de Blasio — often protesting outside the mayor’s favorite haunts.
“We wanted to get the mayor and the staff to focus on our contract. I think it worked,” Lynch said. “Tomorrow, if there’s an issue, we’ll either discuss it or we’ll fight about it. That’s both of our jobs.”
The mayor said he respected everyone’s right to protest — including cops.
“I just thought he liked the coffee,” de Blasio joked about PBA protests at his gym and coffee shop.
The hard-fought deal was finalized at 4.m. on Tuesday.
“Both sides bargained well, bargained with great energy — a tough, tough negotiation,” the mayor said.
The contract will cost the city $1.88 billion through 2021. After health care savings, the net cost is $1.3 billion, officials said.
WITH GRAHAM RAYMAN