Transit lines are life blood

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Transit Lines are Life Blood
Gotham Gazette
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Baruch School of Public Affairs
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Recent Stories / November 7, 2005

Week of December 26, 2005

December 29, 2005

Deal Details
A day after the Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint announced that the union�s executive board has accepted the contract proposed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, most analysts have concluded that the deal is a good one for the union. Yes, for the first time, the workers must contribute from their wages toward their health care coverage. But their pension not only remains intact, the MTA has promised to reimburse about 20,000 transit workers for past pension contributions, at a total cost of about $110 million. And trains will still be run by two-person crews for at least the next three years, the MTA scrapping its plan to get rid of subway conductors.
For more details, see the transportation links in the news.
For editorial reaction, go to Wonkster.
For a look at the labor issues that have emerged from the transit strike, but go far beyond it (pensions, health benefits, reduced benefits for future workers, etc.) see �Three Days In December�

In the Press...

Far-Flung Use Of 9/11 Loans (NY Times)

Jump In Number Of Students Cited For Boozing In NYC Colleges (Daily News)

Subway Crime Drops 5.5 Percent From Last Year (NY Post)

Still No Contract For Queens Bus Lines First To Go Out On Strike (Newsday)

Funding for Public Childcare Shrinks As Number of Children Enrolled Grows (NY Sun)

December 28, 2005

Transit Agreement
The executive board of Transport Workers Union Local 100 approved a new 37-month contract with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in which, as the Times reports, � the authority abandoned its demand for concessions on pensions and the union agreed to have all workers pay a portion of their health insurance premiums.� The city's 33,700 subway and bus workers still have to vote on the agreement next month. If approved, the new contract would avoid future threat of holiday disruption, since it would expire in mid-January, not mid-December. For details, go to the transportation links in the news.

In the Press...

Older Teachers Face Bias, Union Claims (NY Times)

Five Cops Sue the NYPD Over Mandatory Rehab (Daily News)

Broadway Theaters Post Record High Attendance, Box Office Grosses, and Ticket Prices (NY Post)

Liza Minnelli Will Sing "New York, New York" At Mayor's Inauguration Sunday (Newsday)

Translation Bill For Schools Is in Limbo (NY Sun)

Former School Construction Head William Goldstein Named To Oversee Construction Of World Trade Center Memorial (Associated Press)

We Love New York (61 Percent Of New Yorkers; Another 22 Percent "Like" It) (Chicago Tribune)

December 27, 2005

Transit Deal Likely
The executive board of the Transport Workers Union is scheduled to meet this evening and will reportedly be presented with a new contract proposal from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that keeps to the current pension but asks transit workers for the first time to contribute part of their salary towards their health coverage.
Since there is a media blackout on negotiations, this is speculation on the part of the newspaper reporters. For details, go to the transportation links in the news


Last week's stories...