Arbitrator Orders City to Pay Half of Deferred Wages

The city's attempt to avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars in back wages to teachers has been stopped by an independent arbitrator, the teachers union announced Friday evening.

The ruling means the city must pay half of the $900 million it owes teachers now. The remaining payout is due in July of next year.

After Mayor de Blasio took office, he agreed to give teachers raises that they did not receive under his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, because of the city's financial problems.

Instead of providing the money all at once, de Blasio promised to make a series of retroactive payments. The final payment, of about $900 million, was due this month, but Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan informed the teachers' union Friday that the city cannot afford to pay the money because the pandemic has battered its finances.