Comments on: Labor battle lost, MTA sees more financial pain

By: 2009: The year the money vanished :: Second Ave. Sagas | A New York City Subway Blog

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:05:46 +0000

[...] why transit matters in New York City. Bus arrival boards made a 34th St. debut. The MTA lost its TWU arbitration case and promised to appeal. Meanwhile, Transit dealt with the fallout from a major accident as the [...]

By: Nathanael

Nathanael — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:48:07 +0000

What, you haven’t read the extremely hostile criticisms of the heavily featherbedded LIRR union? The one which had two major exposes in the last year; one on work rules and one on disability scams? The one which has managed to retain STEAM-era working rules which have no relevance to the modern world *except* as featherbedding? That union is one of the few in the country which seriously deserves to be busted.

By: Nathanael

Nathanael — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:45:34 +0000

4% is a COLA increase for normal conditions.

This is a deflationary recession. The cost of living is not actually going up.

This amounts to a real wage increase. Impressive win for the transit union. If they agreed to one person train operation with no conditions, I’d say let them have it. Since they won’t, I don’t like them.
The union wins no points for defending featherbedding.

And of course you’re right that fares should be automatically inflation-indexed, and that they should be substantially higher than current (absurdly low) levels.

By: Ray

Ray — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:19:48 +0000

Beg to differ Chris. There are still many healthy companies out there who will automatically offer routine COL increases purely for retention. Companies have culled substantial workers to save money. However, most are not stupid enough to plan for 0% wage growth over a three year plan. Not to personalize this, and I don’t know what industry you are in, but it seems even industries hard hit, such as finance, are rapidly finding their way back to routine compensation patterns. Are you certain you won’t be seeing a small increase?

Moreover, the arbitration panel compared TWU to other public unions when rendering their decision. Those other unions were granted COL increases.

My point. No one expects TWU to accept right sizing and automation. It would be no more palatable than MTA accepting the the unplanned COL increase. Perhaps there is a mechanism available for MTA to bring their requests for cost savings and worker flexibility to the same panel to have them heard?

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:51:56 +0000

DC37 are a bunch of wankers who have the temerity to claim on the same poster that they make less money than non-union workers and hence reduce costs to the city, and that they make more money and hence provide a living wage.

By: Joshua Whalen

Joshua Whalen — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:37:51 +0000

When I was a kid, one or another municipal union was on strike every year. Transit, Sanitation, teachers, even police and fire. In those days, rent stabilisation was strongly enforced, a weeks pay at minimum wage was enough for a single person to rent a decent apartment (in manhattan), and if you had any college at all, you made the equivalent of $250,000 a year (in terms of buying power and lifestyle) today, union worker or not. The high wages and benefits unionized labor enjoyed drove wages for non union workers higher, also. So when the unions take a victory, I rejoice. I wish the strike had lasted longer. The TWU, more than any other union, has always been the muscle in NYC labor’s arms. They should use that muscle fearlessly, and frequently. I’ll happily ride my bike and drop off a donation tot he strike fund on my way to work.

By: Anon

Anon — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:58:49 +0000

President Obama signed the 2009 Supplemental Appropriations Act a few weeks ago which enabled 10% of Transit Stimulus Funds (a.k.a. the Recovery Act funds)to be used for operating assistance.

It not like the arb panel decided this on their own.
It not taking Capital Funding – it’s reallocating funding that was never there in the first place. This was done to help the Transit Workers (especially to prevent layoffs), not only for TWU benefit but transit workers throughout the country.

Bailing out the people rather than bailing out the banks and corporations seems logical.

If MTA received 2 Bil in Stimu that would be 200 Mill for the workers.

Not sure why you have a problem with that.

get past the rhetoric from the papers.

By: More fallout from the MTA/TWU arbitration decision :: Second Ave. Sagas | A New York City Subway Blog

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:29:54 +0000

[...] « Labor battle lost, MTA sees more financial pain Aug [...]

By: Working Class

Working Class — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:34:36 +0000

In each of the last 2 contracts the MTA had billion dollar surplus’ and the union took a 0 in the first year of one of those contracts and recieved less overall than NYPD, NYFD, Sanitation, Teachers, DC37, Corrections in wage increases. In the last contract the union became the first and only large union to pay anything into there medical coverage something that Bloomberg didn’t even ask of his unions.

The TWU contracts have historically been used to set the pattern for the large city unions. Those unions would use what the TWU received and say we have to get more and usually they do get more. This time the TWU contract was settled after all of the other unions so they told the arbitrator that they should receive comparable wage increases. They received less than all of the other unions and people are still saying it’s too much.

Nobody ever complains when MNR or LIRR get hefty wage increases and other great benefits in each and every contract.

By: Alfred Beech

Alfred Beech — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:10:47 +0000

I understand that a 4% raise in a time of deflation seems out of line, but I don’t know the history here. What kind of wage increases and health care changes have the the transit workers gotten over, say, the past 10 years?