oday is a time of almost unprecedented fiscal austerity, which makes it an even more remarkable achievement than it seemed in August when the PBA reached a contract agreement with the city, the first achieved across the bargaining table since the 1991-95 round.

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Without having to resort to binding arbitration, we settled a contract — covering from Aug. 1, 2006 to July 31, 2010 — that benefits New York City police officers in many ways: four years of 4% salary increases, longevity and health and welfare escalators tied to every future raise, additional increased longevity and health-and-welfare payments, restored benefits and other quality-of-life improvements — all without givebacks.

And who deserves the credit for these achievements?

You, the New York City police officer, the PBA member, that’s who.

You remained loyal to the cause, and you stood by the PBA and your fellow members through all those years of painstaking effort, including a long court battle to get to the state Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), years of working without a contract, numerous city Office of Collective Bargaining (OCB) and state PERB proceedings, significant efforts to inform the public of the unfairness of our pay, and years of withstanding unrelenting onslaughts by the city and the editorial writers in its thrall.

There is no precedent in the city’s history for this degree of labor resolve.

While I have always said that the best way to get a contract is at the bargaining table, until this round the city had been unwilling to move on issues important to our members.

This time, the atmosphere changed and the agreement contains some truly unprecedented components designed to help secure the union’s and the membership’s long-term health. We have also been able to add significantly to the health-and-welfare funds,particularly for retirees, which will help meet the rising costs of the health & welfare benefits.

With this settlement, we have increased a police officer’s basic maximum salary by over 57%, compounded, since the current PBA administration took office, and added thousands of dollars into longevity payments, a significant step toward moving our pay structure to market value.

The contract helps, in part, to make up for the 1990s, a decade that brought us just over 20% in increases. At any rate, we have gone from a top pay of $49,023 to $76,488. When longevity, holiday pay, night-shift differential and uniform allowance are added, total average compensation at top pay at the end of the contract (July 31, 2010) will be about $94,000.For a more complete breakdown and fuller explanations of the increases and other benefits, visit the PBA web site. As a result of this settlement, each of you have been entitled to retroactive paychecks going back to Aug. 1, 2006, that will average more than $8,000 for those at top pay.

Your steadfastness and solidarity in supporting your union’s efforts in demonstrations, advertising campaigns and other public-consciousness-raising efforts made all this possible. And, finally, it’s thanks to you that this contract was ratified by an amazing 99.4% margin. This show of unity will stand us in good stead in future challenges.

— Patrick J. Lynch, President