New York labor deal provides COVID-19 overtime pay

(The Center Square) — More than 2,100 New York public workers will be getting bonus checks for overtime during the COVID-19 pandemic, under a new labor agreement.

The Public Employees Federation and the Civil Service Employees Association have reached an agreement with the Hochul administration to fork over $3 million in back pay, averaging to around $1,375 per worker.

The settlement will benefit about 1,700 PEF members and 400 CSEA members, who will get their bonus checks before the end of the year, the Hochul administration said.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said the agreement “honors the tremendous contributions of New York State workers who went above and beyond to protect, inform, and serve their fellow New Yorkers at the height of the pandemic.”

“As we enter the holiday season, we’re putting hard-earned overtime pay back in the hands of the dedicated civil servants who keep our state running,” she said in a statement.

PEF President Wayne Spence said the payments recognize the “sacrifice” of government workers who “stepped up to serve New Yorkers during the pandemic.”

“This was money they earned with their sacrifice,” he said. “These hours were worked at great personal risk and helped keep New York operating during an unprecedented state of emergency.”

The payments will round out a good year for New York state workers, most benefiting from several collective bargaining agreements and new laws approved in 2023.

In June, Hochul reached a deal on a three-year contract with the PEF that covers more than 51,000 state employees in a variety of professional, scientific and technical titles. Workers will get a 9% bump over the three-year contract term, ratified by the union.

Hochul has also approved pay raises for other state workers as part of the $229 billion state budget she signed in May. The spending plan includes a bump in pay for attorneys representing low-income state residents and a 4% cost-of-living adjustment for human services workers employed at state-funded facilities.

The budget includes a plan to raise the minimum wage to $17 an hour, beginning with $16 an hour next year in New York City, and indexing it to inflation starting in 2027.

Business leaders pushed back against plans to raise the wage floor, which they say would lead to job losses, income reductions, and closures for smaller employers.