PBA Asks De Blasio To 'Prove It' In Ad Campaign On Fair Pay
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association is taking aim at Bill de Blasio -- and is using the mayor's own words to do it.
In a new ad campaign launched across several radio stations Thursday, the PBA uses the mayor's own quotes on supporting the middle class and providing a decent standard of living to shed light on issues of income inequality and fair pay the PBA has been fighting for.
"The NYPD is a diverse, dynamic department that protects New Yorkers. Give our police officers fair pay and disability benefits, so they can take care of themselves and their families," the ad states."
The PBA has been without a long-term contract with the city since 2010, and have been fighting back and forth with the mayor's office ever since.
In 2015, the PBA protested in front of Gracie Mansion after an arbitrator's decision for a 1 percent raise for most of the NYPD's rank-and-file police officers.
At the time, PBA president Pat Lynch called the decision 'insulting.'
"We marched in front of his penthouse — this is a guy who gets paid so much money that he's living in a penthouse in Manhattan while our members can't move out of their parents' basement because of a 1 percent raise," Lynch said. "Saying that New York City police officers should be the lowest-paid in the country in the atmosphere that we're working in is absolutely insulting."
The PBA is also advocating for improved disability benefits for NYPD officers.
On Thursday morning, the de Blasio administration responded to the campaign, saying the mayor's office is open to negotiate with the PBA.
"Our door has always been – and continues to be – open to the PBA to negotiate a long-term contract, as we've done with nearly the entire City workforce to date," Mayoral spokesperson Amy Spitalnik said in a statement.
The radio ad will run on several major radio stations for around a week.
