The union representing the city's 8,300 correction officers said yesterday that it had reached a tentative agreement on a retroactive 27-month contract with wage increases of 10.25 percent over that period and terms similar to those awarded to city police officers in June.þþThe agreement with the union, the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association, announced at a joint news conference by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Norman Seabrook, the union's president, would also provide concessions to the city, including a reduction in pay for newly hired officers and fewer personal leave days.þþMr. Bloomberg said the savings would ÿenable us to pay our correction officers significant and well-deserved raises.ÿþþIf approved by the union's membership, the contract would cover the period from Feb. 1, 2003, to April 1 of this year, and Mr. Seabrook said it would provide back pay of $12,000 to $15,000 to veteran correction officers. þþUnder the tentative agreement, salaries would start at $25,100 during the first six months of employment, and reach $59,588 after five and a half years.þþThe union was the only one representing uniformed city workers that endorsed Mr. Bloomberg in his first run for mayor. þþMr. Seabrook said the union had not made an endorsement yet this year, and added that the mayoral race did not influence its contract negotiations, since neither Mr. Bloomberg nor Fernando Ferrer, the Democratic candidate, had asked for the union's support.þþÿWhen the time comes, I am sure the mayor or members of his staff will contact us,ÿ Mr. Seabrook said.þþThe tentative agreement is expected to provide a framework for other municipal unions representing the city's firefighters, sanitation workers, and some police employees who are not represented by the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association.þþThe terms were dictated in June by a three-member arbitration panel that ruled that the 22,000 members of the police union were underpaid compared with police officers in other cities and in nearby suburbs. It awarded the union a 10.25 percent raise over two years.þþ
Source: NY Times
