City Council Pushes Mayor to Withdraw Lawsuit Over Paraprofessional Payments

New York City Council members, led by Speaker Julie Menin, are urging Mayor Zohran Mamdani to drop a lawsuit that is preventing $10,000 bonus payments to the city's paraprofessionals. The council argues that they will withdraw the legislation authorizing these payments if the administration enters into collective bargaining negotiations.

The council and Menin filed a response in Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday, seeking the dismissal of the mayor's August 19 lawsuit. This legal action challenges Local Law 129, which was passed unanimously by the City Council in July. The law aims to provide emergency "workforce stabilization" bonuses to teaching assistants, whose current starting salary is $32,000.

Menin stated that the council did not intend to bypass the usual collective bargaining process but felt compelled to act due to approximately 1,700 vacancies for paraprofessionals within the city. "We always wanted the administration to collectively bargain this or put it in the budget, but that didn’t happen, so we had to act, and that’s why we passed our bill," Menin said at a rally.

Mamdani's administration filed its lawsuit shortly after the bill's passage, asserting that it violated Taylor's Law, a state statute that protects the right of public sector employees to organize and engage in collective bargaining. At the time of the lawsuit, the mayor's office stated, "We will not allow the political process to replace the collective bargaining table."

Critics of the council's law have suggested it could set a problematic precedent, potentially undermining labor negotiations by giving union members an incentive to seek additional concessions after a contract has been signed.

However, Menin, accompanied by council members and paraprofessionals, defended the legislation. She argued that the bill does not circumvent the collective bargaining process between the teachers' union and the Department of Education. Instead, she placed blame on the administration for not proactively engaging in the bargaining process. "Our bill goes away if the administration collectively bargains this," Menin asserted. "So if the administration collectively bargains and does the right thing and pays the paraprofessionals what they deserve, our bill goes away, and nothing would make us happier than that."

Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), which represents teachers and paraprofessionals in the city, echoed Menin's sentiments. He stated that the union has been attempting to facilitate the bargaining process. "The mayor made a promise. He promised the paraprofessionals that we would fix this, we would get this done. We tried to do it. We are continuing to try to do it…with collective bargaining," Mulgrew said. "But it’s the city and its agencies who created this problem."

Mayor Mamdani's office indicated that they are "negotiating in good faith to address the inequity permanently" and highlighted a "positive working relationship with Mulgrew." A spokesperson for the mayor, Matt Rauschenbach, added, "As we work towards a resolution to the litigation and to protect collective bargaining, the City will continue working with UFT and all our labor partners to make meaningful investments in the workers who keep our city running."