The head of New York City’s teachers union made it clear Monday for the first time that he was pushing the city for back pay for his nearly 100,000 members.
“We believe that we should have a raise, and we’ve been working a long time without a raise,” United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said in an interview on WNYC.
“It’s a big issue for us. It’s a very large issue with us.”
He declined to specify how much he was asking for, saying he promised Mayor de Blasio not to negotiate in public.
Some estimates peg the cost of back pay for UFT members to be more than $3.2 billion.
“We think we can figure this out at a negotiating table,” he said.
Mulgrew’s comment comes as de Blasio aides said the city’s settlement last week with the Law Enforcement Employees Benevolent Association — which included retroactive raises providing officers with an average of $50,000 in back pay — would have no bearing on negotiations with other unions working without a contract.
That deal, reported exclusively by the Daily News on Monday, addressed a unique situation.
The 200 Department of Environmental Protection officers — whose duties include protecting the upstate watershed — had been without a contract for nine years, and the settlement only goes through 2007.
Other city employees’ contracts expired beginning in 2008.
While de Blasio isn’t guaranteeing other city workers equally generous back-pay packages, labor experts say the quick settlement offers key clues to the new mayor’s style.
“One thing is really clear: there is real collective bargaining going on,” said Ed Ott, a CUNY labor studies lecturer.
That wasn’t true under former Mayor Bloomberg, who had a contentious relationship with the city’s unions, he said.
“The guiding principle of the de Blasio team moving forward is to respect workers and protect taxpayers,” said the mayor’s spokeswoman, Marti Adams.
