{"id":914428,"date":"2026-07-05T15:56:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T15:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/914428\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T15:56:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T15:56:47","slug":"pba-uses-sanders-words-in-july-4-campaign-to-pressure-mamdani-over-nypd-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/914428\/","title":{"rendered":"PBA uses Sanders\u2019 words in July 4 campaign to pressure Mamdani over NYPD contract"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Police Benevolent Association (PBA)<\/a> is using Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders\u2019 own words against Mayor Zohran Mamdani as the union fights for a new contract for NYPD officers.<\/p>\n

amNewYork has learned that the union representing tens of thousands of rank-and-file cops will drive a billboard truck through Manhattan on July 4, particularly in areas with heavy police patrols, playing a campaign video featuring Mamdani discussing policing with Sanders during the mayoral campaign.<\/p>\n

In the video, Sanders, whom Mamdani often refers to as an political mentor, recounts his experience as mayor of Burlington, VT, where he granted police officers a 9% pay increase.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked to the Burlington Patrolman\u2019s Association Police Union. And we said, look, I said, you know, it\u2019s a difficult job being a cop. And we talked about it,\u201d Sanders says in the video.<\/p>\n

At the video\u2019s conclusion, the union flashes a banner reading, \u201cMayor Mamdani: Bernie did it\u2026 Why won\u2019t you?\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The campaign comes as the PBA continues to push for a new labor contract after its previous agreement expired on Aug. 1, 2025. The union is seeking raises that would bring NYPD officers\u2019 salaries in line with those of New York State Troopers, who also police New York City.<\/p>\n

According to the PBA, state troopers currently earn about 7.9% more in base salary than NYPD officers, with that gap projected to grow to 11.13% by 2028.\n<\/p>\n

During Sanders\u2019 run as mayor in Vermont, he addressed officer retention, an issue that has become increasingly relevant for the NYPD, which continues to lose mid-career officers to higher-paying police departments in the surrounding region, sources say.<\/p>\n

After two unsuccessful rounds of bargaining under the Mamdani administration and two more under the previous Adams administration, the PBA says the city has yet to present a wage proposal, prompting the union to take its dispute public.<\/p>\n

\u201cMayor Mamdani campaigned as a champion for working people, but when it comes to the police officers who work for him, he hasn\u2019t practiced what he preached. We\u2019ve been out of contract for nearly a year, and it is absolutely insulting that the mayor and his team refuse to even make us an offer,\u201d PBA President Patrick Hendry said. \u201cHe needs to listen to the advice that Senator Bernie Sanders gave him and treat police officers with respect, like other working people. If he doesn\u2019t do that, we\u2019re going to continue losing hundreds of cops a month, and public safety will suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sources familiar with the negotiations said that because the city has not submitted a wage proposal, the PBA filed a Declaration of Impasse with the state\u2019s Public Employment Relations Board on June 15, requesting the board\u2019s assistance in resolving the contract dispute.<\/p>\n

The latest escalation follows the PBA\u2019s criticism of Mayor Mamdani\u2019s decision not to include an increase in NYPD headcount in the city\u2019s adopted budget.\n<\/p>\n

amNewYork reached out to the mayor\u2019s office for comment and is awaiting a response.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Police Benevolent Association (PBA) is using Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders\u2019 own words against Mayor Zohran Mamdani as…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":914429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,10635,221265,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,369591,369592,369593,19452,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-914428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-bernie-sanders","tag-mayor-zohran-mamdani","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-officer-salary","tag-police-benevelent-association","tag-police-benevolent-association-president-patrick-hendry","tag-raise","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116868191595696060","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=914428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/914429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=914428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=914428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=914428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}