Can CTA rail workers strike? They can threaten

By Mary Wisniewski

July 17, 2017

The union for CTA rail workers sent a cold shudder through the city last week by announcing that they had taken a preliminary strike vote, with 98 percent of those who cast a ballot saying they'd walk off the job if necessary.

The CTA said a strike would be illegal under the collective bargaining agreement and Illinois law. The union president said it could be legal under certain conditions. The CTA said that both sides have agreed to arbitration.

A Chicago labor law expert said a strike would be illegal if the parties have agreed to arbitration. But it is not clear what could happen if the union were to stage an illegal strike.

"That's uncharted waters," said Martin Malin, a professor at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law and a labor law specialist. "There are all sorts of possibilities."

One thing that is sure is that it is not illegal to threaten a strike, take a vote on a strike or make preparations for a strike, Malin said. The Illinois Appellate Court ruled in a 2008 CTA case that such actions can be part of the pressure used in bargaining and not considered an unfair labor practice.

The preliminary strike vote announcement, made at a news conference, came as CTA unions are marking 18 months without a contract.

"I'm not afraid to discuss striking," said Kenneth Franklin, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308, which represents rail workers. He said in an interview that he had consulted with lawyers about the legality of a strike. "A portion of the members have become well-educated on a strike. ... Our labor is our weapon."

Chicago has not seen a transit strike since 1979, when both bus and rail workers walked off the job eight days before Christmas, causing 700,000 daily riders to either jam the roads in private cars, fill up commuter railroad trains or just stay home. The workers had demanded cost-of-living increases.

On the third day of the strike, after the CTA had begun running limited bus and train service, a Cook County judge ordered strikers back to work. The court also required retroactive pay increases and contract arbitration.

Five years after that strike, in 1984, the state enacted the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act. The act specifies that public safety workers such as police officers, firefighters and paramedics cannot strike.

Other public employees can strike under certain conditions. One is that the collective bargaining agreement does not prohibit it. Another is that the employer and the union have not agreed to submit the issues to final and binding arbitration.

Also, the union must allow five days after filing notice of an intent to strike before actually walking off the job. Franklin noted this provision in arguing that a strike could be legal.

"My job is to fight for dignity and respect for my members," Franklin told the Tribune, adding that the CTA had made "disrespectful offers," including increasing members' health insurance costs.

CTA spokesman Brian Steele said the CTA is trying to eliminate inefficient practices, such as giving employees the day off on their birthdays as well as their work anniversaries.　

Steele said that a strike would not be legal because the collective bargaining agreement prohibits it, and that even though the agreement has expired its provisions remain in effect while both sides negotiate a new contract. The Tribune requested a copy of the agreement but had not received one by deadline.

Steele said the 1984 Illinois Public Labor Relations Act also prohibits a strike that would present a danger to the public because the employees provide "essential services." The Regional Transportation Authority Act says that a substantial loss of public transit would create an "emergency" threatening the safety and well-being of people in the region.

Malin noted that Pennsylvania had successfully argued that a Pittsburgh transit strike could be prohibited because the extra auto traffic would tie up emergency vehicles.

Steele said that the CTA last month requested what is known as "interest arbitration" with Local 308, which allows issues not resolved in bargaining to be presented to an arbitrator for resolution. Steele said the parties are currently seeking an arbitrator.

Interest arbitration is standard for firefighter and police contracts, Malin noted.

"We requested it because while negotiations were cordial and transparent they were not progressing at the level we had hoped for," Steele said. He said the CTA had gone into interest arbitration 10 times since the 1970s, so it is not uncommon.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241, the CTA bus drivers' union, issued a statement supporting Local 308's positions.

"The attempts to achieve a contract have been met with nothing but negative responses and a series of delays by the CTA," Local 241 said in the statement, which said the CTA is "unnecessarily wasting public money" on the arbitration process.

Both the bus drivers and the rail operators' unions agreed to a one-day protest job action back in December 2007, though they did not go through with it. Then-CTA President Ron Huberman said at the time that any job action would be illegal because workers provided an essential service.

Franklin said there was no timeline for an official strike vote. "There are several lines that would have to be crossed before we could facilitate the action," he said.

So riders can relax for now — no action, legal or not, is expected anytime soon.

Because of falling on-site ticket sales at its Stone Avenue Station in LaGrange, Metra said the BNSF Railway will no longer staff the station after Aug. 4.

It's a sign of the times — ticket sales have fallen at many of the commuter railroad's stations as passengers have switched to online and mobile purchasing.

"Technology is changing the way Metra customers are buying tickets," Metra Executive Director and CEO Don Orsenosaid in a statement.

On-site ticket sales have previously been eliminated at more than a dozen other Metra stations, including Riverside and Brookfield on the BNSF Line.

In other Metra news, the suburban rail service is putting on trains more posters for its "Ride Nice" customer courtesy campaign. The new posters, which are based on a survey of customer complaints, are aimed at discouraging riders from bringing "stinky" food on trains, and from coughing and sneezing without covering their mouths.