MTA Reaches Deal With TWU Local 100
Thankfully for the sake of riders throughout the region, the MTA has reached a deal (pending MTA Board approval) with Transport Workers Union Local 100.
Based on the initial terms of the deal, I feel it is safe to say that the union won this round of the never ending battle between the heavyweights as they see decent pay increases while not having to dish out more for health care or deal with work concessions.
Here is more on the deal via a report by Dan Rivoli of the New York Daily News:
The city’s transit workers union reached a tentative deal on a new contract with “solid” raises, the labor group’s chief said Monday.
The deal for the 28-month contract — arriving hours after the current contract expired Sunday night — includes two raises of 2.5% over the first 26 months, plus a $500 bonus for the final two months for 38,000 subway and bus workers, according to two sources.
“We won a tentative contract with solid raises and other strong economic gains, moving transit workers well ahead of inflation and greatly improving their quality of life,” John Samuelsen, president of Transport Workers Union Local 100, said in a statement.
The TWU had been fighting the MTA on the size of the raises. The union wanted a raise higher than the 2% hikes the authority brass had sought to keep wages in line with the rate of inflation, citing the improved economy.
TWU, MTA fail to reach agreement on raises as contract expires
Ultimately, there were no concessions, changes to work rules or higher benefit co-pays, according to a TWU spokesman.
Click here for the complete report.
As is to be expected, some are already voicing doom & gloom on the deal echoing sentiments that the TWU got too good of a deal & riders will be the eventual victims who have to fit the bill. These feelings are coming from the Citizens Budget Commission. Danielle Furfaro of the New York Post has more on this angle of the story:
The new contract between the MTA and its workers costs too much money and will lead to higher than expected fare increases, a government watchdog group claimed on Tuesday.
Citizens Budget Commission officials say they believe the workers got too good of a deal and that riders are going to have to pay for it.
“New Yorkers should welcome the news of 28 months of labor peace on the subways and buses, but it comes at a price,” said CBC president Carol Kellermann. “The settlement is more generous than the MTA’s financial plan provides and may require higher fare increases than planned or more borrowing to support the capital program.”
The newly-inked contract with the Transport Workers Union Local 100 will give the workers two separate raises of 2.5 percent over 26 months and then a $500 bonus for the last two months, said sources. The new contract runs until May of 2019.
The new contact will also leave in place other perks, including higher pay for nighttime shifts, overtime after an eight-hour day instead of a 40-hour week, and a cap on part-time employees.
“The MTA doesn’t have the flexblity to work around these things, so they are paying more for workers hours than they have to,” said CBC researcher Jamison Dague.
Click here for the complete report.
As I opined earlier, the TWU definitely won the battle with this contract as they got pretty much every main sticking point they wanted. However to solely blame them for the costs of it is unfair considering they just want a fair living wage in what is one of the most expensive cities/regions to reside in throughout the entire world.
The real culprits are the bodies of government both city & state who continuously shortchange the MTA in terms of the funding it needs for the strongest level of operations from infrastructure down to being able to properly pay employees. So instead of looking down on the working class, how about looking up at the people behind the curtain running the show!
xoxo Transit Blogger
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