MTA and transit workers union to have first contract negotiations in almost a year, with Hurricane Sandy response playing central role
Daily News -- By: Pete Donohue MTA and transit workers union to have first contract negotiations in almost a year, with Hurricane Sandy response playing central role The Transport Workers Union Local 100 will stress the hard work and sacrifices bus and subway workers made during and after the storm to boost its case for increased wages. The talks could set the stage other municipal unions.he MTA and the transit workers union soon will have their first formal contract negotiations in nearly a year — and Hurricane Sandy will play a central role. Transport Workers Union Local 100 will bolster its case for modest wage increases with a campaign stressing the hard work and sacrifices bus and subway workers made during and after the deluge. “Hurricane Sandy changed everything,” Local 100 President John Samuelsen said. “It’s only appropriate to review and rehash the incredible work New York City transit workers did in getting New York City back on its feet.” Thousands of transit employees worked nonstop to get buses on the road in less than 24 hours and for subways to return ahead of expectations, he said. The stakes are high when the two sides sit down Sept. 30 — and not just for the approximately 36,000 transit workers. An MTA-TWU contract could set the pattern for talks between City Hall and other municipal unions if accompanied by two conditions: The pact is deemed favorable by organized labor, and Democrat Bill de Blasio, the mayoral candidate unions largely support, wins in November, said Lee Adler, senior associate at Cornell University’s Industrial Labor Relations School. “It would at least be the minimum, the floor, from which the conversation would begin between the incoming mayor and city workers,” Adler said. There are approximately 330,000 city workers, including teachers, sanitation workers and firefighters, toiling under expired contracts who will negotiate with the new administration. The MTA insists it can’t afford raises without work-rule changes and efficiency measures to pay for them. The implication is that the authority, which already plans to raise fares again in 2015 by approximately 7.5%, might have to boost its prices even higher without a “net-zero” agreement. The MTA also wants to loosen contract language prohibiting it from eliminating conductor positions on the vast majority of subway trains, a move that would leave riders with just the motorman during emergencies until additional help arrives. The average base pay for a transit worker is $62,000 a year, according to the MTA. Their contract expired Jan. 15, 2012. With the union still recovering from penalties imposed after the 2005 strike, there hasn’t been the usual concern or veiled threats of a walkout. Talks last year continued past an initial deadline but stalled for several reasons, including union elections, Sandy and another change at MTA headquarters. Former MTA chairman Joe Lhota left in January to run for mayor. The state Senate didn’t confirm current Chairman Tom Prendergast until June. Top leaders on both sides have had informal discussions from time to time but not “main table” sessions where big ticket items like wages, health care and major work-rule changes are hammered out. Prendergast seemed to be setting the table for talks earlier this week when speaking to the Citizens Budget Commission about recent efforts to deal with the authority’s financial challenges. “The farepayers have done a lot, if not more than their fair share,” he said. “Management has done a lot ... labor hasn’t.” Since 2009, the MTA has cut $800 million in annual spending. Management and nonunionized administrative staffers haven’t had a raise in five years. Riders have had three fare hikes.