City day care providers and their staffers have reached a $145 million deal to provide raises to roughly 2,700 workers, union officials said Wednesday.
The agreement will bring wages for the workers at scores of city-funded, privately run daycare centers up to similar levels as those enjoyed by staffers at city-operated prekindergarten programs.
Teachers at the day care centers will make $50,000 a year and staffers will have access to affordable health care.
The workers had been without a raise for nearly a decade and voted to authorize a strike in August. The strike has been called off.
“This contract puts things back on a normal track by providing for significant raises, affordable health care insurance and protection of their pension benefits,” said District Council 1707 Executive Director Victoria Mitchell, whose union represents the staffers. “It is a great victory for the workers.”
Roughly 10,500 city kids attend day cares affected by the new arrangement.