By Dan Rivoli
January 16, 2017
The union of NYC Transit workers
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 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 the 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.
There were also no concessions
from the union, 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 rank-and-file members for final approval.
Workers are also getting a few
perks.
Transit workers 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
large, accordion-style buses will get a boost in pay. These bus drivers could
get a dollar an hour 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
improvements to workplace facilities for the 5,000 women at NYC Transit — a
system built without a female workforce in mind, Samuelsen said.
The MTA will hire at least 100
workers for its in-house construction workforce to make employee facilities
more accommodating to the women at NYC Transit, according to the sources.
Samuelsen said that part of the
agreement shows a “level of respect for female transit workers.”
The TWU kicked off contract talks
with a rally outside MTA headquarters in November that attracted thousands of
workers.
The union also tried to wage an
ad campaign that called for higher wages, depicting the brutal assaults against
transit workers. The MTA rejected the advertisements. A federal judge sided
with the MTA’s decision in a suit the union filed last month over the rejected
ads.
“We waged a multi-faceted
campaign that raised the awareness about the value transit workers have to this
city, the dangerous nature of their work, and the sacrifices they make to move
8 million riders a day,” Samuelsen said.
A MTA rep did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
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