Union seems to work in NYC

[tarp]

Two articles posted below. In a nutshell, NYC Bus and Subway drivers threatening to strike (at Christmas) over the paucity of their wage increase.

You might want to note what the wages are for A NYC subway driver....you know a job that requires no college degree or any specialized knowledge on how to drive a train.

 

[tarp]

AP
NYC Transit Union Authorizes Subway Strike

Saturday December 10, 10:51 pm ET
By Desmond Butler, Associated Press Writer

Transit Union Authorizes NYC Subway Strike if an Agreement Isn't Reached by Midnight Thursday

NEW YORK (AP) -- New York City transit workers voted Saturday to authorize a strike that could shut down bus and subway service at the height of the holiday shopping season.

Thousands of members of Transport Workers Local 100 voted unanimously to authorize their leaders to call a walkout if the union and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority can't agree on a new contract by midnight Thursday, when the current contract expires.

MTA officials said they were optimistic an agreement would be reached.
State law prohibits strikes by public employees, and union workers would face huge fines if they walked off the job. The last strike by city transit workers was in April 1980, when they halted mass transit for 11 days.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who often rides the subway to City Hall, said Friday that he hopes the strike talk is just a negotiating technique. He said a mass transit shutdown would be devastating to the city's economy, particularly at this time of year.

The system shuttles more than 7 million riders throughout the city on an average day.

The MTA last week offered a two-year proposal that would give workers a 3 percent raise in the first year and a conditional raise of 2 percent the second year, but the union rejected it.

Union officials are publicly calling for 8 percent wage increases each year for three years. President Roger Toussaint said Saturday that the 38,000-member union, which has had three-year contracts in the past, wouldn't accept a two-year pact.

"Why would they want to put New Yorkers through this every two years?" he asked.

Toussaint also accused the MTA of ignoring safety concerns raised by the union.

MTA spokesman Tom Kelly said in a statement that the union had authorized the strike before making a counteroffer to the MTA's proposal.

Wayne Friedman, a train operator who took part in Saturday's vote, said a strike was a real possibility.

"In my opinion, the union is absolutely serious about striking this time," he said. "If they negotiate fairly, we won't have that problem."

 

[tarp]

Union: Them's strikin' words


By PETE DONOHUE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Transit officials said yesterday they would not guarantee raises for bus and subway workers - prompting the union boss to say that management appears "to be trying to provoke a strike."

With the union contract set to expire Dec. 15, the cash-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority called for no raises next year.
There could be pay increases in the following two years - but only if workers do more.

Productivity improvements being sought include having cleaners remove graffiti and change light bulbs. The MTA also wants union members to increase their pension payments by 2.3%.

Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint, who is seeking 8% raises in each of the next three years for his 34,000 members, called the MTA offer "an insult, an outrage and a provocation."

Toussaint has not ruled out a strike, which would be illegal and bring stiff fines.

Under the union's wage proposal, the top base salary of most train operators would rise to about $63,800 from $50,600 in the third year of the contract. A bus driver's salary would increase to nearly $60,000 from $47,600.

Police this year earned a pay raise of 11.5% over two years. Cops make a top base salary of $54,048.

Gary Dellaverson, MTA director of labor relations, noted that the MTA faces a $1.1 billion budget gap next year and a $1.7 billion gap the following year.
"These are very large numbers for the MTA," he said.

To combat the deficit, transit officials also plan to raise the $1.50 bus and subway fare to $2 - or $1.75 with big service cuts.

Benefit issues

In addition to salaries, the MTA and the union are haggling over health benefits.

The MTA has agreed to raise its contribution by $60 million next year. But they want workers, who currently get free benefits, to start paying an average $22 a month in 2004.

The union is also pressing to lighten up the MTA's employee discipline process. Dellaverson said the MTA has offered to make the process less formal for minor infractions.

"We made significant and important movement toward them on the areas they said are of critical importance," Dellaverson said.

But Toussaint disagreed. "There's no way this proposal can be placed on our workers," he said.

 

[i'mbatman]

Here's the deal.....these guys have so muchmore leverage than pilots do.....they will effectively shut down the city.....if one regional carrier strikes they just shift the flying. I'm going to have to live on Long Island for the duration of the strike if this happens b/c they are telling cops not to let cars with less than 4 people into Manhatten and since I drive to work thats gonna cause a problem. Although i could start a taxi service to LGA and make some $$$$.

 

[labbats]

Agreed. If there were 5 companies doing the same transit, they'd never strike. With one company, there's solidarity.