Contract negotiations now favoring unions

 The recent doormen pact and transit workers deal could signal better payouts for union workers.

Discussions regarding raises for the city’s municipal unions have not fared well from the perspective of union workers, due in part to the city’s inability to pay what the unions want, the precedent set by the three-year pay freeze the governor imposed on state workers, and that private sector raises have been slight during that time.

Nowadays, however, that paradigm seems to be shifting for the first time in quite a while, due in part to Governor Andrew Cuomo and the city’s residential landlords.

Recently, residential landlords have agreed to give their doormen, represented by 32BJ, substantial raises averaging 2.7 percent annually over the next four years. This higher pay comes without any concessions from the doormen.

In another example of this possible trend, Cuomo has agreed to offer transit workers retroactive pay for the years they worked without a contract, pay hikes escalating to 2 percent a year and only the smallest additional contribution for health care costs. Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority won none of the work-rule changes it said it needed. [Crain’s] —TRD