Newark School Custodians Get New Contract: Goodbye Seniority-Based Raises

NEWARK, NJ — Newark’s public school custodians have a new work contract in place, but it is one that eschews the traditional seniority-based salary increases in favor of performance-based raises.

The Newark Public School District announced on Dec. 15 that school administrators have reached a new four-year labor agreement with the Local 68 International Union of Operating Engineers, which represents the district’s custodians.

The new contract implements a new annual evaluation practice and eliminates automatic step salary increases, replacing them with performance-based pay ties, school administrators said.

Newark Public Schools first utilized performance-based pay for teachers with the Newark Teachers Union in 2012, and classified support staff with the Local 617 Union in 2015 and Local 32 Union in 2016, according to school administrators.

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