Fair contract

MTA as an institution affects the labor market outcomes through their independent effect on wages. In the classical market of many buyers and sellers no one employer or worker can independently affect the going wage, individual firms and blue collar workers are what economists call ‘price takers'. The same is not true however in real world labor markets populated by large institutions such as MTA and as our union TWU Local 100. We know MTA is regulated by the state since it is public authority.

The best example of how institutions can independently affect wages is thru our TWU Local 100. In competitive markets an individual worker has little or no power to raise the wage above the going market rate, since the firm can easily let one worker go and hire someone else. But what if the workers band together to form a union? The power of a union to raise wages comes from its unity, especially the ability of walking out. We in TWU Local 100 have that ability however perseverance in the face of this contract fight is warranted. While the firm may be able to replace individual workers, if all workers walk off the job together then the company faces a potentially long shutdown. While not able to accomplish it’s main mission in moving New Yorkers in their state or city that failure creates ripple effects in the economy of the city and state.

We know we have that ability, however what we want is to have an influence on the wages to rise to match the increase of the prices of goods that we consume daily which is our objective. TWU Local 100 is not asking for wages too far but rather it asks for a fair contract.