Member Driven: Local 100 Team Collecting Contract Demands/Concerns from Members

IB Image

A new Local 100 outreach team is surveying members across the transit system in preparation for contract negotiations later this year.

The Rapid Response team, formed at the direction of Local 100 President Richard Davis, so far has visited dozens of bus and subway locations. At each stop, union reps ask members to rank their contract priorities. But the reps also sit down with members for one-on-one discussions about their issues and concerns.

“It’s positive and encouraging,” Train Operator Robert Negron said recently after talking with union Rep. Kristian Magwood. “They get to hear what we want…and what’s going on out here in the field. We get to give our input.” Train Operator Fidel Gomez agreed. “Sometimes you see a lot of union people when there are elections coming up, so it’s good to see them coming around when it’s not election time,” Gomez said. “It’s a good thing.”

Negron and Gomez were in the RTO crew room at the Van Cortlandt Park-242 St. when the team visited on Friday, Feb. 3. Like other members surveyed that morning, rookie Train Operator Yu Fu Lei put raises at the top of his list, citing rent and inflation as a big concern. “It’s getting out of hand,” Lei said. “After paying rent, there’s not much left.” Lei, whose wife is pregnant, said he’d also like more paternity leave, along with cleaner bathrooms, more protection from unhinged riders, and better scheduling.

Other potential demands listed by members included: shortening the 20-day advance notice to request a day off; discounted E-ZPasses; higher night differential; mental health days; obtaining the 5th vacation week earlier than 15 years, and more sick days.

“You have COVID now, in addition to the cold and flu,” Negron said. “It’s a yearly thing.   There’s more probability of getting sick, so there should be a couple of more sick days.”

The outreach began in January and is ongoing. Local 100 is also surveying members on-line, but the face-to-face discussions are particularly valuable, Senior Director of Organizing Frank McCann said. “You learn a lot more with one-on-one conversations than you do when someone is just checking a box on a survey,” McCann said. “You get story behind the story. You learn the personal reason and rationale why something is important, and that helps at the bargaining table. You can put a face to it.”