New York State’s 1,300 judges are unhappy. And if we had gone 12 years without a raise we'd probably be a bit peeved too. But are they unhappy enough to start a union? Possibly! more ›

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city would save 4,400 teachers slated to be laid off (due to budget issues) by canceling their raises. At first, United Federation of Teachers union president Michael Mulgrew objected to the news, saying the mayor doesn't have the power to freeze pay, but he later said, "We're very happy that 4,400 members will not be getting layoff notices," adding, "But we haven't agreed to anything. We have got to stay focused on getting money from Albany and Washington, D.C." more ›

The Bloomberg administration is catching some flak for tipping their hand and revealing big raises coming to teachers, both for putting for such a generous offer as payback politics and letting the teachers' union know what was coming their way before negotiations even began. The Post revealed that Labor Commissioner James Hanley admitted that 8 percent pay raises for teachers have already been set aside for the next two years in recent testimony before an arbitration panel. A former Koch official said that letting the cat out of the bag was a no-no, telling the paper, "Every labor leader knows that the money is hidden somewhere in the budget and they don't know how much money. Generally, only the most trusted people in the budget know where the money is squirreled away." Others criticized how high the raises are despite the city's fiscal crisis and low inflation—starting salaries now heading up to just under $50K and veteran teachers able to make up to $108K. Many believe the high offer coming to the United Federation Teachers might be payback for changing positions and supporting mayoral control of schools and city pension reforms. more ›

On Monday, an arbitrator ruled transit workers could receive "four percent raises in each of the first two years of their contract; three percent in the third year -- far more than the MTA had budgeted for," according to NY1. Additionally, the MTA lost its bid to reduce the number of train operators aboard subway to just one (from two)—the Post says the Transit Workers Union "demanded a slew of outrageous perks to strong-arm the MTA into killing a plan that would have saved the cash-strapped agency $12 million," asking that if there was just a single operator, then the "lone operators get $2-an-hour pay hikes and that the conductors whose positions were eliminated simply get shifted to other lines," so the MTA decided not to pursue the single operator negotiation. TWU president Roger Toussaint denied that he made demands, instead saying, "This is plainly not true, and they know it. This was an exercise of incompetence at the highest level by [MTA director of labor relations] Ben Fernandez and [interim MTA CEO] Helena Williams, which they are now trying to cover up." And the Post's editorial board seems to agree, wondering if the MTA had planned this all along. more ›

The City Council will give 550 council aides and central staffers approximately $3.9 million in raises for this year’s salaries and, retroactively, for last year’s salaries. The decision, which was not bogged down by any annoying "voting," was framed by Council speaker Christine Quinn's spokesperson as a "cost of living increase." Charles Meara, the Council's chief of staff and top paid employee, will see his salary go up to $209,973 from $194,132, a gain of $15,841. And his deputy chief of staff, Ramon Martinez III, got a nice bump too, from $191,664 to $207,303. (The Wonkster has a nice top 10 list of the Council's highest paid staffers.) The salary increases, which do not apply to council members, come on the heels of Mayor Bloomberg's $45 million in raises for his staff. And the city's district attorneys and borough presidents have given or are expected to give similar raises. Bucking the trend, City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., a cash-starved Democratic candidate for mayor, has frozen the salaries of all his employees who make over $90,000 a year. But how will they afford the cost of living?! more ›

Guess some State Senators weren't doing nothing during the 5-week State Senate—they actually gave staffers big raises! According to the Daily News, "Records released by state Controller Thomas DiNapoli show that 11 top staffers have gotten pay hikes of as much as 51% since the June 8 Republican-led coup." Here's some of the raises, all to Democratic aides: "Mortimer Lawrence, special counsel to the Senate majority leader and the highest-paid Senate staffer," got an increase of "16% to $177,231," while Senate Majority Deputy Secretaries Meredith Henderson and Patricia Rubens got 30.6% raises—"their annual pay skyrocket[ed] nearly $33,000, to $140,382. Legislative Analyst Despina Moraitou's salary climbed 51.1% to $75,787 - a $25,651 bump." A Senate Democrat tells the Post, "This is one of the most outrageous things I've ever seen. Frankly, I'm ashamed of it." Senate spokesman Austin Shafran claims the raises were scheduled before the coup. more ›

State judges want a raise in salaries after years of paycheck stagnation. They got close during last year's budget negotiations as the former Governor Spitzer lobbied on their behalf, but the proposal was dropped in closed-door negotiations. The primary stumbling block: state legislators are tying any raise in judges' salaries to a pay raise for themselves. more ›