Transit union gets pay deal
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.
Ultimately, there were no concessions, changes to work rules or higher benefit co-pays, according to a TWU spokesman.
With the tentative deal in place, the TWU will bring the 28-month contract proposal to its executive board Tuesday, then to a vote of its rank-and-file members. The MTA board must approve the contract terms.
Workers are also getting a few perks.
Transit employees living in New York City will get commuter rail passes and better shoes that can handle the rough working conditions.
Drivers behind the wheels of larger, accordion-style buses will get a boost in pay. These drivers could get a $1-an-hour bonus on top of the base pay of $32.42, up from a 25-cent-an-hour bonus they get under the current contract.
The union also scored at least 100 new workers for the MTA’s in-house construction team to improve workplace facilities, such as changing rooms, for the 5,000 women at NYC Transit. That provision demonstrates a “level of respect for female transit workers,” Samuelsen said.
MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas Prendergast, who plans to step down from the agency this month, touted the deal.
“This proposed contract . . . is responsive to the needs of the hardworking men and women in the TWU Local 100 and is an affordable agreement that can be accommodated within our financial plan,” Prendergast said in a statement.