As the MTA looks to both cut $400 million from its deficit and save numerous endangered TWU jobs, the authority has offered a carrot to the unions. According to The Daily News, the MTA will rescind pink slips for 700 bus drivers and station agents in exchange for changes to the packages offered to new workers. According to Pete Donohue, the changes include a “less generous pension” that would kick in when workers are 57 with 30 years of experience or 66 with a decade’s worth of work instead of the current 55/25 plan; top hourly pay after five instead of three years on the job; and higher contributions for health care coverage.
Interestingly, the MTA is also proposing a way to get around next year’s mandated three-percent raise for TWU members. Instead of a raise, workers would receive a one-time bonus of three percent. This bookkeeping would allow the MTA to start negotiations for a new TWU contract with the annual salaries at a lower point than they otherwise would be. The agency would still have to reduce the number of workers it employs but could do so through attrition instead of firings.
Although neither side had an official comment for the story, TWU head John Samuelsen has said in the past that, according to Donohue, he “opposes opening up the existing contract to make permanent changes, especially without a written no-layoff clause for the future.” I’d imagine we’ll see a compromise somewhere in that highly sought-after middle ground as the authority might be asking for too many concessions here.
