Hundreds of NYPD sergeants demanded “fair pay” for the city Thursday — slamming a contract trifle that’s caused them to get paid less than the officers they supervise.
More than 200 members of the Sergeants Benevolent Association union gathered in the frigid cold across from Harlem’s famed Apollo Theatre where Mayor Eric Adams was delivering his State of the City address to let him know how incensed they were by the ongoing wage dispute.
“I’m a single mom with four kids. I have a kid in college, and I cannot supervise all these officers making more money than me — and I have to be responsible for making all the decisions,” NYPD Sergeant Yahira Lopez-Gonzalez said.
“It’s crazy,” NYPD Sergeant Tiffany Howell added. “We’ve been patient but patience doesn’t pay the bills. We have cops making more money than the ones who are supervising.”
SBA President Vincent Vallelong said about 1,200 NYPD sergeants are earning far less than the police officers they supervise.
“Why would you want to take this job with more responsibility and less pay? Nobody would,” Vallelong said.
Adams, during his fourth annual State of the City address, gave the protesters a shoutout, vowing the city would reach a deal with the union.
“And yes, we are going to settle a contract with the SBA. Trust me we will,” he told the crowd of mostly top-level city employees and media members.
But Vallelong didn’t buy the promise.
“We’ve heard this pledge before. So all the mayor needs to do is put pen to paper, fix this economic injustice for 1,200 of our dedicated sergeants, and we will be happy to send a deal back to our members,” he said after the mayor finished his hourlong speech.
The rally came after the SBA had a five-hour meeting with the city Office of Labor Relations (OLR) on Dec. 18, and still failed to come to an agreement.
The SBA was granted the meeting with OLR only after requesting a state mediator, a source told The Post.
Under the current salary structure, sergeants earn about $98,000 until they reach top pay of approximately $118,000, a process which can take approximately five years. Meanwhile, some rank-and-file cops are racking upwards of $115,000 a year, according to the SBA.
Another hiccup in the current contract structure for NYPD sergeants has newly-promoted sergeants making more than those who were promoted earlier, an issue that led to a scuffle between two Central Park precinct sergeants last May.
“It’s not fair that I supervise police officers and they get paid more than me, and I have to make calls and be responsible for the whole city and make decisions that can affect everybody in the city,” Lopez-Gonzalez said at the rally.
