The Adams administration on Friday announced it has reached a deal with the union representing lifeguards after more than a year of negotiations — and only after an arbitrator hammered out the details, officials said.
To make it easier to hire new lifeguards, the new contract modifies some physical job qualifications. It also looks to wrest some control of training operations back from the union, giving the city Parks Department more power, sources and officials said.
Among the changes are a tweaking of final swim test rules that should allow more people to get work at smaller pools.
The contract also loosens vision requirements at those shallower pools. Previously, all lifeguards had to have perfect vision without the use of contact lenses or glasses. The new contract will only require the strict standards for guards staffed at beaches and large pools.
These are the first major changes to the lifeguards’ contract in 40 years, according to city officials.
“There’s just too many outdated issues that are just in the way of getting things done, and we saw that,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference announcing the deal on Friday, which no union members attended.
“The mere fact that the amount of time it took to swim a certain distance — it just doesn’t make sense for these kiddie pools. It doesn’t mean a person is not a great swimmer and can’t respond when need be.”
Representatives of the two local unions that represent lifeguards and their supervisors were not available for comment. They are part of DC37 but a spokesperson for that umbrella organization, as well as its president, Henry Garrido, did not respond to multiple requests seeking comment.
The city’s Office of Labor Relations and Parks Department had deliberated with the union for more than a year before reaching an impasse that required an arbitrator to get involved, according to city officials.
Sources have previously told THE CITY that the union that represents lifeguards — which has been the subject of multiple investigations — would communicate only through fax machine and was reluctant to many changes proposed by the Parks Department.
Meanwhile, the shortage of water workers has persisted, resulting in understaffed beaches and pools.
The new deal also works to institute some of the recommendations made by the Department of Investigation.
“This award creates the largest changes to the lifeguard contract in decades, and lays the groundwork to allow NYC Parks to better recruit and retain lifeguards while improving its management of the lifeguard operation and addressing the deficiencies identified in the 2022 DOI report,” said city Office of Labor Relations Commissioner Renee Campion in a statement from the mayor’s office.
Under the agreement, this contract won’t need to be voted in by members and goes into effect immediately. The new vision requirement will begin next year, a spokesperson for the Parks Department said.
“This new agreement comes in time to make an impact this year, and will also allow us to make the important structural changes needed and recommended by DOI to ensure that this program is run fairly and in the best interest of New Yorkers,” Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue said in a statement.