The city tentatively settled a long-running contract negotiation with the police sergeants union that had threatened to dwindle the ranks, officials said Tuesday.
The tentative agreement would give the city’s 4,400 NYPD sergeants raises — including retroactive pay increases dating back to 2021, police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference at City Hall.
“Our sergeants are the front-line supervisors of the NYPD, managing officers in the field, solving problems in real time, and setting the standard for performance across the department,” Tisch said.
“This agreement reflects the seriousness of that responsibility,” she added.
The negotiations between the city and the sergeants’ union had gone on for over a year and heated up last fall when union officials requested a mediator but were only granted a meeting with the city’s Office of Labor Relations, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.
Vincent Vallelong, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, previously told The Post the existing contract structure for NYPD sergeants was causing “resentment among the ranks” because a contract technicality saw newly-promoted sergeants making more than those who were promoted earlier.
The existing contract structure also resulted in some sergeants making less than the officers they supervise, according to Vallelong.
But under the new agreement, sergeants who earned below top pay as of the end of last year would receive wage increases so they aren’t making less than the members they supervise. The deal would have a backdated start date of Dec. 10, 2021 and run through Dec. 9, 2026.
The agreement includes wage increases of 3.25% for both of the first two years of the contract, 3.5% for the third and fourth years and a 4% increase this December.
The issue gained publicity in January when hundreds of the sergeants rallied outside Mayor Eric Adams’ State of the City address to demand “fair pay.”
At that rally SBA officials said 1,200 NYPD sergeants were earning less than the police officers they supervised.
Sergeants’ pay was capped at $118,000 per year while some rank-and-file cops were racking upwards of $115,000 a year, according to the SBA.
Under the new contract, top pay for sergeants will be a little more than $134,000, according to the mayor’s office.
“Our police sergeants keep our city safe each and every day. They must be able to work with dignity and care for their families, and today’s tentative agreement with the Sergeants Benevolent Association will do just that,” Adams said.
