Union Opens Bargaining; Issues General Demands

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After TWU Local 100’s contract opening presentation at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers, President Samuelsen addressed a big crowd of rank and file supporters outside the venue, covering the basic points of Local 100’s contract demands.
President Samuelsen opens the bargaining
President Samuelsen opens the bargaining

NOV. 30 – Updated with video (see left),

NOVEMBER 17 – On Tuesday, TWU Local 100 opened contract negotiations with a powerful presentation to the MTA on behalf of 36,000 members at TA, OA and MTA Bus. Hundreds of union members packed the New York Ballroom as top MTA managers sat in the first row on the left side of the room, facing a podium of TWU Local 100’s top four. In an hour long address, President John Samuelsen framed TWU Local 100’s agenda for the years ahead, putting forward the reality of the MTA’s out of control debt service costs as against the reality of steadily declining labor costs as a percentage of the MTA’s budget.

The entire TWU Local 100 negotiating team, drawing members from every represented division, was present. Joining them were several hundred rank and file members fresh from a joint rally with SEIU 32BJ, which had opened negotiations on behalf of tens of thousands of commercial building workers at the same hotel a few hours earlier. As the opening session proceeded, hundreds more TWU Local 100 members continued to rally outside on 7th Avenue.

Joe Lhota, leading the MTA delegation on his second day as Chairman and CEO, said that he hoped for a good labor/management working relationship and made a point of speaking about a joint letter he had signed along with President Samuelsen to all five NYC district attorneys, calling for vigorous and stronger prosecutions of those guilty of assaulting transit workers.

Executive Vice President Harry Lombardi came to the podium to underline the strong support of the TWU International in our contract talks.

Putting front and center our demand for a fair wage increase, President Samuelsen declared: “We will accept nothing less than a fair contract.” He rejected zero wage raises and brought home the point again to members rallying outside after the presentation. Highlighting the productivity of transit workers, the declining share of labor in the MTA’s operating costs, and the sacrifices transit workers have already made, Samuelsen laid out several key fronts for improvement, including a better dental plan, maternity leave, a clear schedule for the installation of bus partitions for safety, and recovery time for bus operators at the end of their runs, which he called both a health issue for our members and a safety issue for our riders.

Local 100’s general contract demands can be seen here.

The PowerPoint accompaning President Samuelsen's presentation can be viewed here.