Nassau correction officers contract: 15% total pay hike over 6 years

The union representing Nassau County's correction officers has approved a new contract with the administration of County Executive Bruce Blakeman that raises wages 15% over six years and requires all active employees to contribute to their health plan, according to a signed memorandum of agreement.  

Members of the Sheriff's Correction Officers Benevolent Association voted 564-125 in favor of ratifying the deal late Wednesday, officials said. The contract will cost the county $67 million, according to Blakeman spokesman Christopher Boyle.

The union represents 725 working and 150 retired corrections officers, a majority of whom staff the county jail in East Meadow.

The settlement — a second attempt between the two sides in two years — needs approval from the 19-member county legislature and the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a state control board that oversees county finances.

COBA is the last of Nassau's five major public employee unions to reach agreements with the county on new contracts. Correction officers had been working under the terms of their previous contract, which expired in 2017.

COBA President Brian Sullivan said "it was a long road" and the contract "preserves the level of health care our members deserve while providing fair compensation." 

Sullivan said the contract restructures employee benefits to eliminate a retroactive health payment that many members rejected in the contract presented to them last August. 

"I am delighted that the contract was approved as I believe it is a good deal for both correction officers and taxpayers," Blakeman said. 

The contract runs from July 2020 to July 2025 with 2% raises in the first two years, 2.5% in the next two years and 3% in the final two years. 

More than 400 active employees would begin contributing 2.5% of their base salary to the health plan beginning Nov. 1.

"Corrections is a job that only a special kind of person can thrive in. We certainly don’t do this job for the glamour of it and deserve fair compensation for the dangerous and most essential service that we provide for the residents and taxpayers of Nassau County," Sullivan said. 

Last August, COBA's leadership vowed to renegotiate with Blakeman after the union's members voted against ratification by a margin of 107 votes — 358 against, and 251 for  — with more than 100 members not voting. 

Blakeman, a Republican who took office in January 2022, has settled collective bargaining agreements with the county's two largest unions: the Police Benevolent Association, Nassau's largest law enforcement union, and the Civil Service Employees Association, the county's largest public employee union.

His predecessor, Laura Curran, a Democrat, settled contracts for The Detectives' Association Inc. and the Superior Officers Association. A deal with the PBA was voted down by the union's members in December 2020.

NIFA Chairman Adam Barsky said the panel "will wait to see if the legislature approves" the COBA contract. "So long as it conforms to the pattern, I believe it is something we would find acceptable," he said.   

Legis. Rich Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park), presiding officer of the legislature, said: "Based on the information provided to us, we believe this is a fair contract both for corrections officers and taxpayers. If approved, all of the major labor unions will have a contract in place for the first time in years."

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.