You can negotiate for higher wages and to preserve your health benefits and your pension. But how do you negotiate for respect?
Although there were clear dollars-and-cents issues that drove the Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 to call a strike against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) early in the morning of December 20, respect seemed to be the driving motivating factor.
This became clearer as the strike got underway and the voices of the rank-and-file were heard more prominently in the press. The Daily News, for example, reported the story of Willie Casiano, a mechanic, who said that his supervisor has “been accusing me of chronic sick-leave abuse" during chemotherapy treatment. An Associated Press article quoted Angel Ortiz, another transit worker, saying, "Everybody treats us like crap all the time. We're tired of being treated like we're the garbage of the city." Charles Craft, a track worker, said that some bosses treat his colleagues "like animals.”
It’s hard to understand the transit strike without thinking about these comments. How else can one explain why TWU Local 100 President Roger Toussaint seemed undaunted on the first day of the strike. Undaunted -- despite a court imposing $1 million a day fines on the union; the president of the international union, Michael T. O’Brien, urging workers to abandon the strike and return to work immediately; and the state Public Employment Relations Board dismissing the union's complaint that the transit authority violated state law by negotiating pensions.
Without considering the issue of respect, it is difficult to understand why talks came to a standstill the night before the strike, despite the MTA’s making a significant change in its pension proposals. Up until then, the MTA had wanted to increase the age for full retirement from age 55 to age 62 for new employees. Before the midnight strike deadline, the MTA put on the table a proposal to retain 55 as the retirement age for new employees but deduct six percent instead of the current two percent from their paychecks. The union objected to this as a four percent wage cut. But what could be more negotiable than the difference between six percent and two percent?
Only the issue of respect can explain why the union has steadfastly refused to consider mandatory arbitration, a route they embraced in the early 1980s. As Toussaint has said repeatedly, the union wants its members to make their own decision on what contract terms to accept. Making decisions for yourself is a matter of self-respect.
Nelson Rivera, a shop chairman for mechanics and car cleaners at a Manhattan depot, seemed to articulate to the Daily News how workers’ deep desire for respect and Toussaint as the local president have come together to produce a strike. "’We've been fed up with the MTA and wanted a strike for years,’ Rivera said. â€But until Roger got elected, no union leader dared to stand up to management.’"
How this volatile situation will play out is impossible to predict. All the forces against the union are applying maximum pressure for a settlement: the $1 million a day fines; Taylor Law provisions that fine workers two days pay for every day they walk out; the international union’s lack of support; and harsh rhetoric from the mayor and governor. With the strike costing the union millions a day and the city tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in police overtime, lost retail sales and a myriad of other costs, it’s hard to believe that the strike can last an extended period of time. The MTA and TWU need to find some way to bridge the gap.
Whether they have truly done so, however, will become evident only when the time comes – two or three years from now – to negotiate the next contract. Will that next contract also be about respect?
Bruce Schaller, who has been in charge of the transportation topic page since its inception in 1999, is head of Schaller Consulting, which provides research and analysis about transportation. He is also a Visiting Scholar at the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management at New York University.Â
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The Transport Workers Union early Tuesday morning, December 20th, announced a transit strike.
TRANSIT STRIKE INFORMATION AND REGULATIONS -- THE DETAILS
FOLLOW THE LATEST ON TRANSIT NEGOTIATIONS
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The transit system's official Web site has official information on contingency plans and how other unrelated trains, bus, and ferries will be affected.
Transport Workers Union, Local 100
The Web site of the transit workers' union has official notices, news updates, and a calendar of events.
Gotham Gazette's Wonkster
A blog of news and opinion.
NYCtransitstrike.com
This Web site is published by Sam Schwartz, "Gridlock Sam," an expert on infrastructure, traffic safety and transportation systems.
ALTERNATE WAYS TO GET AROUND
NYC.gov Strike Contingency Plan Information
Mayor Michael Bloomberg outlined the city's official plans in case of a transit strike. This Web site offers basic information and links to other official Web pages.
Craig's List Ride Shares
A bulletin board for New Yorkers looking for rides, or riders (to have the four necessary to be allowed into Manhattan during rush hour.)
New York Times Guide to Commuting Map (in pdf format)
This map of the five boroughs shows pedestrian crossings into Manhattan, park-and-ride stations, car pool staging areas, taxi fare zones, and roadways reserved for emergency vehicles.
Unaffected Transportation Services (Trains, Buses, Ferries)
See the Web site of each of the following trains, bus, and ferry service for changes meant to ease congestion on these systems, which are not affected by the strike:
- Long Island Railroad
-Metro-North Railroad
-Staten Island Railway
- PATH
- Amtrak
- AirTrain
- NJ Transit (commuter rail and bus)
-Long Island Bus
-Westchester County Bee-Line
-Staten Island Ferry
-Private Ferries
Map of Taxi and Car Hiring Zones (in pdf format)
A map of areas in each of the five boroughs where passengers can hire cars and taxis.
Map of Parking and Car Pool Locations (in pdf format)
This map shows designated carpool areas so drivers and riders can share rides to meet the four person per car requirement.
Map of Pedestrian and Bicycle Access to Manhattan (in pdf format)
A map of the five boroughs showing where pedestrians and bicyclists can cross into Manhattan.
Transportation Alternative's Tips on Biking to Work
Transportation Alternatives, a pedestrian advocacy group, offers tips for new cyclists, suggestions for where to buy a bike, and an outline of "the rules of the road" (like how to avoid car doors).
TRANSIT STRIKE INFORMATION AND REGULATIONS -- Selective Links
Public School Information for Strike
All regular school start times will be delayed for two hours. The end of the school day will not be changed. Teachers are supposed to arrive no later than one hour after their regular scheduled start time.
Police Department Driving Restrictions
The city will require four or more passengers in each car entering Manhattan south of 96th Street from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m., Monday-Friday. Also certain streets in Manhattan will be reserved for emergency vehicles, buses, and commuter vans only. This link provides a map of all roadways, bridges, and tunnels affected.
Special Taxi Regulations for Strike
Taxi and Limousine Commission-licensed taxis and livery cabs will be allowed to pick up multiple passengers in a single trip. They will also use a different fare schedule. Fares will be up to $10 per person for entering a cab and $5 for traveling to an additional zone.
Strike Parking Regulations
Alternate side of the street parking rules will be suspended. And to improve traffic flow, weekday "No Standing" and "No Parking" rules will be extended.
Suggestions for Employers
The city offers six simple options for employers like "allow workers to telecommute" and "stagger shift schedules to avoid rush hour."
TRANSIT STRIKE INFORMATION AND REGULATIONS -- THE DETAILS
TAXIS & CAR AND VAN SERVICES (rules only in effect Mon - Fri during strike.)
NOTE: If a vessel operator is offering ferry service from an unusual location, you should ask about the vessel's inspection status and may ask to see the Certificate of Inspection or the operator's license. Large vessels must meet special safety and security requirements. If you are in doubt about a vessel's inspection status or have concerns about its safety or security, call the Coast Guard at (718) 354-4353 and ask to speak to the Sector Duty Officer.
Long Island Railroad(NOTE: modified service does not begin until WED around 4am)
Metro-North Railroad(NOTE: modified service does not begin until WED around 4am)
Staten Island Railway PATH Amtrak AirTrain NJ Transit (commuter rail and bus) Long Island Bus Westchester County Bee-Line
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Brinksmanship in contract negotiations between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and its largest union, the Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100, left New Yorkers feeling that “no news is good news” as they dressed for work on a rainy Friday morning, hours after the union’s contract with the MTA expired. Subways and buses kept rolling as contract negotiations broke up at 4:30 a.m. with no word from either side.
Three hours later, Transport Workers Union President Roger Toussaint announced that the union board had authorized a “series of strikes,” starting with two private bus lines in Queens recently absorbed into the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. These workers have been without a contract for three years. Toussaint said the union was prepared to continue to bargain, but he also denounced the MTA for bad-faith bargaining. He indicated that the union would broaden the strike to “MTA properties” if no settlement was reached, but did not specify a deadline. "We have been left with no choice," he said at around 7:15 Friday morning, after the morning rush hour had already begun.
In the days and then hours leading up to the December 15 midnight deadline, events seemed to be building inevitably towards a strike:
The city filed suit seeking fines of $25,000 a day for every worker, doubling for every day of the strike, and additional millions from the union.
MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow suggested at a news conference that arbitration –- a course favored by the union after the 1980 strike -– could break the impasse. TWU President Roger Toussaint denounced Kalikow’s remarks and insisted that union members wanted to settle their own fate.
Transit workers rallied with the cry, “Shut it down!”
Dissident union members tried to disrupt a Toussaint news conference, highlighting internal pressures that were not favorable to a settlement. The union distributed instructions to members on how to shut down subways and buses.
The city readied an emergency plan to set up carpool staging areas and park-and-ride lots, limit traffic into Manhattan, and open schools two hours later throughout the city. Private employers followed suit with plans for buses and van shuttle services and even day care for workers whose nannies might not be able to show up for work.
Public comments on progress in the talks on Thursday were also not optimistic. Toussaint said chances of a strike were “50-50.” The head MTA negotiator, Gary Dellaverson, said there had simply not been enough negotiations to bridge the gap. MTA Board Member Barry Feinstein, a former Teamsters local president, noted that smaller issues which should have been resolved by the last day of negotiations had not been.
Kalikow joined negotiations himself shortly before the midnight deadline, but no settlement could be reached. In announcing the strike, Toussaint said that Kalikow's attempt to solve major differences between the union and the authority in so short a time was insulting.
The main issues continued to be wages, pension benefits, health coverage and work rules:
Wage increases: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority offered two wage increases of three percent each over 27 months. The union sought eight percent annual wage increases.
Pension benefits: The MTA wants to move the retirement age from 55 to 62 for newly hired employees and is asking for higher employee contributions from new workers. The TWU countered with a proposal to reduce the age for full retirement benefits to 50.
Health coverage: The MTA is asking for higher co-payments for prescription drugs and office visits. The MTA also wants new employees to contribute two percent toward health care premiums. The union opposes these changes.
Job responsibilities: Another controversial area is the MTA’s desire to broaden job responsibilities for certain titles. The MTA originally asked to eliminate conductors from some trains so that train operators (“motormen” in the old parlance) would open doors and make announcements as well as operate the train. The TWU has been fiercely opposed to this proposal and won an arbitration ruling on the issue. The MTA more recently proposed to convert conductors to customer service agents who would roam the train rather than stay in the conductors' booth. Similarly, the MTA wants the former token clerks to move around subway stations and help riders. The union has expressed reservations about employees’ safety in stations, and passenger safety if conductors’ duties are changed.
The task of reaching a settlement has been complicated by differences this year compared to three years ago, when negotiators stopped the clock to reach a settlement the day after the contract expired. Unlike three years ago, the MTA is running a $1 billion surplus, so the union feels there is less of an argument that the MTA cannot afford more generous wages and benefits. The MTA replies that the surplus is generated by a blip in tax revenues that will not last. The MTA expects to confront deep deficits in coming years and plans fare increases in 2007 and 2009.
Several paths to a settlement still remain. While the TWU has opposed binding arbitration, according to the TWU Web site, the union championed the current law that provides for arbitration and won a 21.5 percent wage increase, over three years, in 1982 through arbitration.
The contract issues also lend themselves to compromise. The MTA undoubtedly could increase the wage hike from the three precent it has offered. It would appear that changes to the retirement age are unlikely given the cost of the TWU proposal on the one hand and the need for state legislation to implement the MTA’s proposal. A middle ground for payments for health benefits and changes in work rules could be found by modifying or phasing in any changes.
Meanwhile, New Yorkers continue to wait for word on whether the two sides will find common ground, or whether the cold and wet holiday season will turn increasingly ugly.
Bruce Schaller, who has been in charge of the transportation topic page since its inception in 1999, is head of Schaller Consulting, which provides research and analysis about transportation. He is also a Visiting Scholar at the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management at New York University.Â