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US - NEW YORK - After the Public Transportation Strike: New Contract with the MTA NYC Transit approved by TWU-Local 100’s Executive Board , Ratification Vote Scheduled Jan. 20 (TWU Local 100 website)

Saturday 7 January 2006, posted by John Malone

After the Strike - Chronology December-January

Dec. 28 - TWU, Local 100’s Executive Board Tuesday night voted 37 to 4 to approve a new 37-month contract with the MTA NYC Transit.

January - The union is mailing out ballots to the city’s 33,700 subway and bus workers.

Vote Scheduled Jan. 20.


Contract 2005: Contract Highlights

Dec. 30 - The two top goals of Local 100 members in contract negotiations were wages and lifetime medical coverage, so that they can afford to retire. The contract achieved both, as well as several other major items. The contract also includes a 1.5 percent membership contribution for health premiums.

Wages: Dec. 16, 2005: 3% ; Dec. 16, 2006: 4%; Dec. 16, 2007: 3.5%

Lifetime medical coverage

25/55 pension refund

Martin Luther King birthday holiday

$320/year additional for all maintainer titles

State Disability Coverage

Increased AVA maximums in most departments

OT Banking and vacation cash-ins

Reduced pre-disciplinary suspensions

New CED pick every other year

Two-year assault pay at run pay

Doubled death benefit for line of duty

Maternity pay for first time ever

Eliminates prescription drug deductible for retirees

Equally as important is what the contract does not include:

No broadbanding

No new pension tier for new hires

No surface integration


Contract 2005: Was the Strike Worth It?

How do you measure success in a strike? A strike changes the rules. It’s no longer just about the demands you had when negotiations started. There are two things to consider. First, a strike raises the stakes. You have to avoid defeat at all costs. Second, did you come back with more than was on the table when you went out.

On both fronts, the 2005 transit strike was a big success. Thousands of members stood up and told the TA that they were tired of being abused. It’s about respect. We were up against the Mayor, the Governor, the MTA, the rabid dog news media. We had to watch the MTA attempt to use our own International to try and get us to cross our own picket lines. But we stood strong and came back proud.

And we came back with more than was on the table before the strike.

We said No Two Tier. We kept one tier.

We said we need pension justice. We got it. The 25/55 refund will mean $8000-$14,000 for some 20,000 members.

We said No Broadbanding. No more surface consolidation. No OPTO. We stopped them all.

The package on the table before the strike had two tiers, but no 25/55 refund. It had no disability. No maternity pay. No assault pay. No pay for attending school. The list goes on.

Was it worth it to stand up for respect and to come back with a bigger, richer package. Members have to decide for themselves. Your Executive Board says an overwhelming yes.


Letter from Union President Roger Toussaint to Local 100 Members

January 6, 2006

Re: Proposed Contract, 12-16-05 through 1/15/09

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

I am pleased to report that the Local 100 Executive Board, by an overwhelming 37 - 4 with 1 abstention voted to approve and to recommend your approval of the attached agreement.

The voting instructions are included in this mailing. The vote will be conducted by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) using the most up to date methods that we expect to produce much greater participation than under past methods. The voting is simple. You can vote from anywhere, even on vacation, by telephone or computer, with strict safeguards for confidentiality.

Read the instructions carefully. The voting date is Friday, January 20th.

I join the Executive Board in strongly recommending a YES vote. Our main concerns were wages, lifetime secure medical coverage and pension reform. We achieved all three, as well as many other gains. Spend some time going over the Agreement. You will see that it includes real gains now and real retirement security for the future.

There are two bitter elements within the Agreement. Extending the term for 1 month, and the 1.5% contribution for health care are things we did not want. But they were necessary for us to achieve lifetime medical, the pension refund and to secure the rest of the Agreement and come out of the strike strong, not beaten down. Our Executive Board agreed that on balance, this Contract and the strike that produced it deserve a strong YES vote.

I have said over and over that what happens away from the table is more important that what happens at the table in determining the outcome of any negotiations. It was clearer than ever this year. From the MAC Attacks to the Days of Action and the mass rallies to the giant Mass Meeting that called for a strike and then a first strike in 25 years, thousands and thousands of transit workers stood tall. In the face of threats and public attacks, we acted in the very best traditions of our Union and of the entire Labor Movement. We won respect the hard way, in the street. I am so proud of all of you.

Now we have to finish the job. Vote YES on January 20th.

Sincerely,

Roger Toussaint


Memorandum of Understanding Between MTA NYCT and TWU Local 100

see attached PDF


Source:

TWU Local 100

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Forum posts

  • There isn’t one single word about the Central Electronic Shop. Again you prove to us we don’t mean anything for twu local 100. Do you think that a simple mention would have been too much. The so called future employees that you made us pay for are the ones that are flooding our broadbanned shop. They came from having nothing and work like the slaves when they were back in their communist world. They don’t talk to any union sympathizer and group together. They all try to out do each other and kill all the jobs. You allowed them to come in without taking a civil service test. All minorities are excluded because they are brought in by resume alone. Hand picked by management. Do you blame the few remaining civil service employees from giving up. The people you so dearly protected are the ones destroying all the benefits our fathers and grandfathers fought for when local 100 truly was a union. They make their private deals with Management and get the clean easy jobs. Seniority means nothing in this shop. Management controls the overtime. Not the union. When a civil service employee tries to hustle up some OT your shop stewards are all over him. Not only does he have the competition from all the imigrant slaves but also has to justify his OT to a bogus steward that only monitors them. If you have no authority in our shop, then let us at least be on equal terms as the imigrant slaves. Let every man hustle for himself. The scabs worked during our strike and working OT now. Do you call that justice. At least don’t pretend you have a presence here. You are giving us false hope. Let us compete on equal terms. The pro union civil service employees are the ones getting screwed. If you continue disregarding this shop then you will loose it altogether. I suppose a small group like ours means so little to you. You promised to bring us back to the un bias civil service days but our shop continues to grow with white slaves, hand picked by Management. If you loose the automatic collection of union dues don’t count on the white slaves sending you a penny. You have created a non union shop where white slaves out number the union people. Maybe this is the end of Unionism, at least in the Woodside Central Electronic Shop. Your only chance is to lay down the Union Law and determine who is in good standing. If not send them back to their old non union jobs where they can and will continue back stabbing each other to please the Boss. A union shop meant more than paying union dues. It meant that you gave up your dues because in order to be allowed to work there you did the right thing. If you wanted the benefits of a union then you had the privlege to belong to one. You accept anyones dues even the scabs. Throw them out of the union and let them keep their fucking dues. Enough is enough.

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