On April 15, 2025, Mayor Eric Adams and Office of Labor Relations Commissioner Renee Campion announced a tentative contract agreement with the Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA), ensuring substantial wage increases and addressing long-standing pay disparities for NYPD sergeants. This five-year contract, effective from December 2021 to December 2026, provides a compounded 18.77% wage increase and guarantees that all sergeants earn more than the police officers they supervise, a milestone not achieved in decades. The agreement, praised by SBA President Vincent Vallelong and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, reflects a commitment to supporting the 4,400 sergeants who are pivotal to public safety, while also introducing a voluntary 12-hour shift pilot program. This deal underscores Mayor Adams’ focus on fair compensation for New York City’s uniformed workforce, boosting morale, retention, and the city’s safety.
Mayor Adams, OLR Commissioner Campion Announce Tentative Contract Agreement With Sergeants Benevolent Association
Allison Stoddart, Chief Counsel to the Mayor and City Hall: Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us here today. My name is Allison Stoddart, and I serve as chief counsel to the mayor in City Hall. We are joined today by Mayor Adams, the Office of Labor Relations Commissioner Renee Campion, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, and Sergeants Benevolent Association President Vincent Vallelong.
Our mission is to make New York City a safe and affordable city, and that includes ensuring that our workforce is able to earn a great living, have excellent benefits, and care for their families. With that, I will turn it over to Mayor Adams.
Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you so much. Don’t trip, because you’ll sue us. Really, really happy to be here with the men and women of the SBA. And Vincent, you know, thank you. You fought hard for your members. You knew what you meant. You knew what your members wanted. You were directly engaged, involved. We sat down several times, and just the number of people out there that just wanted to see this plane landed for the SBA.
These are our sergeants, front-line supervisors. They are there to embrace and bring in the new rookies. They are there to ensure that the men and women who are on patrol are doing it correctly. They’re there on the scene. They’re on the ground. When I go out there responding to different jobs, you see the sergeant there. And, you know, all those of you who, you know, go out and just see policing, you should follow around a sergeant one day and see the weight on the shoulders of a sergeant.
Of going to a crime scene, being there when that officer is involved in the shooting to nurture them through the difficult time, making sure the actions are taken correctly. And the job of a sergeant, the job of law enforcement is challenging, but I remember my rank as a sergeant. You have to really be hands-on and lead the troops. Our inspectors, our captains, our lieutenants, they all are committed to public safety, but there’s something different about the role of a sergeant. They’re there to produce the qualitative officers that are needed and to bring down crime.
And when stuff goes wrong, the first thing you hear is, where was the sergeant? Where was the sergeant? You don’t hear, where’s the sergeant, where were the sergeants, when you break the records that we have witnessed in the Police Department. People tend to forget the significance of that role, but I have not forgotten. And I’m just really pleased that Vincent and his board and the men and women behind me fought hard for their members, and because of that, we have a deal.
And this is how we keep our city safe. And today, we’re proud to announce a tentative agreement with the Sergeants Benevolent Association, to secure well-earned, long-overdue wage increases. And we have done this over and over again. 100 percent of our uniformed forces, we assign contracts, good contracts. 98 percent of our union membership here in the city, working class people, good contracts, because we have an excellent commissioner.
And Renee, I keep saying, it should be champion, not Campion. You have done it over and over again for working class people. We cannot thank you enough. We were fully engaged. The commissioner was engaged. I was engaged. Our entire team was engaged, because we knew how important it is to retain and keep talented men and women who serve New York City so bravely.
And this was personal, because everyone knows by now the prerequisite to prosperity is public safety. I say it over and over again. And I cannot have the men and women who are in charge of this important part of our administration feel as though they’re not appreciated for doing the job. And so for the first time in decades, first time in decades, they are– all our sergeants are ensured that they will earn more than the police officers they supervise.
It was unbelievable. You get promoted to sergeant, and you are making less than the police officers that you supervise. Well, that changed. And for the first time in decades, it would no longer be in place. And over the last two years, our administration has shown how we can sign these contracts. When you get to a number of 98.5 percent of our city’s workforce and 100 percent of our uniformed personnel, it shows that we don’t just talk about being one of the few union members that is now the mayor of the City of New York. We carry it out in our policies and actions.
We settled a contract with the Police Benevolent Association. District Council 37, Marine Engineers’ Beneficial [] Association, Teamsters Local 237, United Federation of Teachers, and a dozen more. One, that I am really proud of are even the ferry boat operators. I think it was 13 years without a contract. Well, you know what? We got it done. We got it signed.
And I cannot thank one player that’s a face we don’t see often, but is very much engaged, and that’s former [State] Senator Diane Savino. She is a working class former union member of DC 37. When these negotiations take place, she comes with the real balance of how do we do what’s right for the workers and how do we make sure we’re doing what’s right for the city. So hats off to you, Diane. I know you’re around somewhere just doing the right thing all the time for the men and women who work in the city.
And so, you know, any time we’re able to land a plane, we’re pleased. But for this one, Vincent, I’m really pleased. You know, you’re a darn good leader and I appreciate how you fought hard for your members and all of you who are behind the job well done. You’re reflective of the City of New York, you know, and we’re going to continue to do what’s right for the working class people of the city. Thank you very much.
Stoddart: Thank you, mayor. And next we will hear from the commissioner who has consistently delivered fair contracts for our union’s Office of Labor Relations Commissioner, Renee Campion.
Commissioner Renee Campion, Office of Labor Relations: Thanks, Allison. I’m extremely happy to have reached the conclusion of this important late labor agreement with the SBA. I again want to thank the mayor for continuing to put your trust in me to represent you as your chief labor negotiator. I especially want to start off by thanking Vinny Vallelong for his leadership and the entire leadership of his team, who this was a very challenging, complicated, difficult conversation that went on for quite a while. So I want to thank them for their leadership.
I also want to thank Deputy Mayor Camille Joseph Varlack, Deputy Mayor Kaz Daughtry, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and her team also, especially over this past weekend where we spent a lot of hours on the phone and had a lot of conversations. And I also want to thank Allison Stoddart, the mayor’s chief counsel.
The budget team, of course, is always involved, led by Jacques Jiha and Ken Gardner. And then one other person that I want to thank, is Bill Conley. He is the director of Conciliation at the Public Employment Relations Board at PIRB. He was our mediator going back several months, and he stuck with us, both sides of us, for so many months. So I want to thank him for that. And then lastly, I want to thank my first deputy commissioner, Dan Pollack, who without him, this would not have been made possible.
So now the terms of the deal. So it’s a five year contract. Goes back a number of years. December 10th. 2021 and ends December 9th, 2026, next year. The total amount of compounded wage increases is 18.77 percent. And the way that’s added up is that 12, 10, 21, there’s a 3.25 percent retroactive wage increase. 12, 10, 22, a three and a quarter percent retroactive wage increase. 12, 10, 23, a three and a half percent retroactive wage increase. 12, 10, 24, a three and a half percent, half percent retroactive wage increase. And upcoming this December, in December 10, 2025, there will be the final wage increase, which is 4 percent.
The most significant part, in addition to the wage increases, of course, of this contract is the issue that I’m sure Vinny will be talking about, which is about bringing the sergeants up to top pay. Sergeants who were below top pay as of 12-10 December 2024 will be brought up to top pay effective December 10, 2024. This was funded by additional productivity and as part of the contract. Once this agreement is implemented, as the mayor said, all sergeants will be earning more than the police officers they supervise. And with that, those are the terms of the contract. Thank you.
Stoddart: Thank you, Renee. The mayor has always been laser focused on making sure our city is safe and has delivered real results across the five boroughs. Next up is New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch: Good afternoon. I am thrilled and quite relieved today for many reasons, which I will get into. But among them, my great boss, the public safety mayor, the blue collar mayor, has been locked in and laser-focused on getting this deal done for the 4,400 noble, hardworking sergeants in the New York City Police Department. And he has made absolutely no secret of that to me and to several of us who work for him.
Perhaps you might be interested to know a little bit more about how it went down this weekend. On Palm Sunday, as I was headed to the Holy Name Society’s communion breakfast to see Cardinal Dolan honored as man of the year, I read, I ran into my new best friend, Vinny Vallelong, in the hallways of the Midtown Hilton. I pulled him aside and I said, Vinny, I am not Christian, but I get the symbolism of Palm Sunday. The Messiah triumphantly enters the gates of the Holy City, Vinny. That can be you.
So from a nice Jewish girl in the spirit of Palm Sunday, peace and victory, Vinny. Can we get this done? And minutes later, as if he knew what had just happened, the mayor texted me, how are we doing getting my sergeants paid? And to Vinny’s great credit, the deal was essentially sealed that afternoon.
In all seriousness, the real victors here are the 4,400 sergeants who now get the long-awaited and much-deserved wage increases that date back, as Renee said, to the end of 2021. And in particular, we solved the pay disparity that impacted about 1,200 sergeants, ensuring that our new sergeants won’t be out-earning our more senior ones, and no sergeant will be earning less than the cops that they supervise.
The other victors here are cops in the PBA who have been pushing to give 12-hour tours a fair shot. In a separate agreement with the SBA signed concurrently, we have a plan forward for an incredibly limited, time-boxed pilot of the 12-hour tour schedule among sergeants, prioritizing volunteers first. This will ensure that some of our cops working 12-hour tours will be supervised by sergeants working 12-hour tours as well.
I want to thank Mayor Adams, whose leadership has now brought every uniformed NYPD union under contract. He kept his promise to the women and men of the department, and we are very grateful for his continued support. And of course, so much of this has been made possible by Commissioner Renee Campion and her team in the Office of Labor Relations. They share the late nights and the constant back and forth, and their commitment to reach a fair deal brought us to today.
And finally, of course, to Vinny and the thousands of hardworking sergeants you, your team represent. Peace and victory to you. For our cops, you are more than frontline supervisors. You are mentors, you are role models, and you always have our officers’ backs. Today, Mayor Adams has your back. Congratulations and stay safe.
Stoddart: Thank you, commissioner. And last but not least, I would like to welcome up Sergeants Benevolent Association President Vincent Vallelong to talk more about what this means for his members and the impact they have on keeping our city safe each and every day. Thank you.
Vincent Vallelong, President, Sergeant’s Benevolent Association: Let me first start off with thanking the mayor for keeping his promise back in January at the State of the City. He said then he was going to cut a deal with us and make sure that it was done. And true to his word, he did. I’ve always believed in this man, especially in fact, on what it is he was going to do to correct things inside this city. And I still believe in him today.
I want to thank Renee, because the two of us, I mean, we’ve been battling back and forth probably for the past two years, and everybody knows it’s kind of like a little bit of a joke now. So, you know, kudos to her. She fought very hard for the city, and hopefully she took it as what it was, and it was just us wanting to fight for our membership.
I want to thank the police commissioner. From day one, when she got the spot, she was right there calling me in. Probably the day that she was sworn in, she called me up and wanted to make sure that she sat down and went over what the issues were that we had.
And also someone who’s not here right now, I need to thank Deputy Mayor Kaz Daughtry. I mean, he was very instrumental in getting this done. And at the end of the day, there was a lot of moving parts in this, and everybody seemed to just hit stride at one point in time, and we were able to work this out.
Contracts that get done very fast usually turn out to be bad contracts. And we took our time with this, and we made sure that this was going to be in the best interest for the men and women and the sergeants of the NYPD. I mean, that’s what we do here. We are here to represent them and their families and make sure that they have the means to take care of their families at home.
They are the line in between everybody else to make sure that the city is safe. And with that, I will tell you that I will thank the mayor once again. You know, it’s a very important position to have, and he has recognized that with this contract.
I also have to thank the people behind me, because without them, I wouldn’t be standing here in this spot right now. I am only as good as they are behind me, and I tip my hat to the men and women that are standing behind me, which is the board and the directors. So I’m very grateful to everybody here. I see Deputy Mayor Daughtry is here. And I just want to thank everybody for everything that’s transpired over these past few months. I wish it would have been a little bit sooner, but I mean, we’re where we need to be right now. So again, I thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Mayor Adams: Alright, I want to answer a few on-topic.
Question: The net effect positive of having this alignment that took decades to make. Anyone who’s been working this knows that this injustice existed, where patrolmen were making more than sergeants. Is this part of a holistic approach to try to keep people with the job to feel like, “You know what? If I hang in there, I’m going to give [inaudible].”
You had a reverse incentive, whereas, like, the longer you stand in there, maybe I should go to a suburban district. And then a tougher follow-up, have you given up on EMS?
Mayor Adams: No, not at all. I’ll just answer that first. You know, it doesn’t matter where people stand politically. I’m for working-class people, and I’ve made that clear, and that was always my north star. And when Vincent first sat down and spoke with me about this difference in pay, I didn’t believe it. I called Renee up and said, wait a minute, is this true? And I knew that we couldn’t just put a Band-Aid on it. We have to fix it because you can’t come back over and over again.
This was going on for decades. This was a problem that was in place, and part of what I knew– government was broken, and there’s still some broken pieces that’s there. And the goal is you could easily just say, well, you know, just, you know, do your time and just let the problems remain. I just refused to do that. I refused to do that.
I remember when I first got elected, everyone was always saying, just tell us the three things you’re going to do. The whole darn system was broken. It’s not about three things. It’s about how do you fix the betrayal? Those soldiers were betrayed. How do you fix that betrayal?
And that’s the same with EMS. We have to fix the betrayal. And when you’ve tried to fix the betrayal, Vincent hit it out of the park. It’s not instant. That’s the problem. That’s how we get to these problems. Everyone is just trying to say, well, I’m just going to kick the can down the road for the next person to deal with. I don’t want to kick the can down the road. The buck stops with me. And EMS we are going to land the plane with the EMS as well.
Question: Yeah, it was reported that the 12 hour shift situation pilot program was a last minute thing that caused the glitch in negotiations. Obviously, we came to an agreement. How did you, if it’s true, get over that with anything given back or sweetened for the union?
Commissioner Campion: So essentially, where we came to a resolution was that it’s a voluntary pilot, and that was extremely important. That was the number one thing that was very important to the union. Also, there was a very limited number of people that are involved. So to the extent that people volunteer, the maximum number of people that we have that are going to be in this, unless we agree otherwise, is 50. So 50 is a pretty small number. And I would think probably a better chance than not that we’ll have all volunteers as a result for this program.
Question: So you announced this contract or a contract similar in 2023 with the SBA, a handshake deal. So what’s the difference now in the contract, how did those negotiations play out? Because obviously this is the pay disparity, the 12 hour tours. This is something that we’ve been reporting on for the last year and a half now.
Commissioner Campion: Right, sure. So in June of 2023, we made an agreement with the Uniform Coalition, of which the SBA was one. And that sets out the basic economic terms. So that sets out actually the wage, just the basic wage increases, the two, three and quarters, the three and a half and the four and the term of the contract.
And then what happens after that, as historically has always been done, is that we then go back in and because it’s never over, is that we sit and negotiate a unit agreement with each individual union of the uniforms and we negotiate on what issues they want to see addressed. And this was one of them. And this is how we got to today.
Question: Why did it take so long to get to the [inaudible]? Joking we should have done sooner. This always takes a while. This is obviously what we reported on this last summer, fall. So what’s been the sticking point here?
Commissioner Campion: There’s a period of time. There’s a moment in time where the parties decided, as Vinnie mentioned, where we’re just going to roll up our sleeves and move forward and all be rowing in the same direction. So if the time was now to make a deal and we made the deal.
Mayor Adams: To Craig, keep in mind, the time is not going to hurt their retro. They’re going to get every penny that they earned. And, you know, the delay in getting it done does not mean those sergeants are going to lose anything with their retro. They’re going to get their retro pay for the full extent of the contract and they’re going to be treated fairly.
And I think the two huge sticking points was that Vincent was not going to give up on the fact that his sergeants should be paid less than police officers. He refused to. He said that can’t happen. That’s a stop. And he dug in. He dug in. And I think that other mayors may not have understood the full appreciation of what that meant for morale, for hiring, for retention. But I understood clearly what it meant. And that’s the joy of having a blue collar mayor— he understands blue collar issues and you understand union issues. Thank you.
April 15, 2025 New York City Hall
Sources: NYC . gov , Midtown Tribune ,
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