New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Office of Labor Relations (OLR) Commissioner Renee Campion have reached a tentative five-and-a-half-year contract agreement with the United Probation Officers’ Association (UPOA) to cover approximately 600 probation officers help individuals on probation to move out and stay out of the justice system.
The tentative agreement is retroactive — beginning on November 28, 2020 — and will expire on June 12, 2026. The agreement conforms to the pattern established by dozens of other unions over the past 18 months. It includes wage increases of 3% for each of the first four years of the contract and 3.25% in the fifth year. The agreement also includes a lump sum ratification bonus of between $3,600 and $5,080, depending on the employee’s title, for all UPOA members who are in active payroll status on the date of ratification.
“Protecting public safety and making our city more affordable means investing in hard-working New Yorkers like our probation officers, who work tirelessly to keep our city safe by helping justice-involved people get back on — and stay on — the right path,” said Mayor Adams. “We’re proud to have secured well-earned and long-overdue wage increases for hundreds of thousands of dedicated public servants while ensuring that our labor contracts are fair deals for taxpayers as well. With the dozens of contracts we have negotiated, we are creating a fairer and more equitable city, delivering on our vision for a more affordable and livable city, and ensuring that New York City is not only the greatest city in the world to live, but also one of the greatest places to work.”
The tentative agreement — which must be ratified by the UPOA membership — also creates a new 11-year step pay plan for probation officers and supervisors, replacing the current salary ranges. Effective November 28, 2024, probation officers’ starting salaries will be $61,386 and the top pay will be $81,000. Supervising probation officers’ starting salaries will be $86,500 and the top pay will be $95,100. Employees who would earn above these pay rates with the pattern wage increases will be kept whole.
The total cost of the tentative agreement, through Fiscal Year 2028, will be approximately $52 million, which is fully funded in the financial plan.
UPOA members will receive the following compounded wage increases:
- May 28, 2021: 3.00 percent
- April 2, 2022: 3.00 percent
- November 28, 2022: 3.00 percent
- November 28, 2023: 3.00 percent
- November 28, 2024: 3.25 percent
“We are proud to have reached a tentative agreement on what we believe is a fair contract for our members,” said Dalvanie K. Powell, president, UPOA. “Probation is the heartbeat of our criminal justice system, working tirelessly to keep our communities safe while giving individuals under our supervision a second chance. We negotiated this contract with a clear focus on addressing the historic pay disparities that our members — who are mostly women and people of color — have faced, as well as improving working conditions and benefits. Our Executive Board approved this contract today and we will be meeting with our members to discuss the terms over the next week before this is put to a vote of our full membership. Our union remains committed to advocating for our members and ensuring that they are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. We look forward to continuing to build on this agreement and advancing the interests of New York City’s probation officers.”
