NYC Strikes $27M Cost-Saving Deal With Sanitation Union

NEW YORK CITY — City officials struck another detail with an employee union to help forestall layoffs from a coronavirus-related budget crunch.

Teamsters Local 831, the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, agreed to defer $27 million in retroactive pay until the 2022 fiscal year, according to a release.

The deal — and previous ones with municipal employee unions — brought the city’s total labor savings to $722 million, the release states. The savings is necessary as the city awaits a potential federal stimulus shepherded by President-elect Joe Biden, officials said.

“As chances for a robust federal stimulus rise with the incoming Biden administration, New York City has still gotten to work making tough choices to balance the budget,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement.

The union deal also includes an agreement to defer four months of retiree welfare fund contributions until November 2021, as well as a lump sum payment to the union’s annuity fund until December 2021.

And city sanitation workers also got a no-layoff pledge out of the city, according to a release. There won’t be layoffs through June 30, 2021, or June 30, 2022 if the city receives $5 billion or more in state or federal aid.