The TWU insisted on equal treatment for current and new workers under any agreement; it looks like the MTA (the bosses) have caved in to this, paving the way for strikers to return to work while negotiations continue. This is a compromise, but the MTA loses a lot more than the workers do.
Mr. Toussaint, at his news conference, reiterated the union’s argument that the authority had forced the union to strike by illegally insisting on pension changes. Under the state’s Taylor Law, one side cannot make pensions a condition of a settlement. But in 1994 and in 1999, both sides agreed on pension changes.
“We are prepared to resume negotiations, right away, right this minute,” he said. “If the pension issue were taken off the table, that would form the basis for us to ask our members – to ask our executive board – to ask our members to go back to work.”
The pension issue (6 percent contribution by new workers while current workers are paying 2 percent) IS now off the table, and the MTA dropped demands of health care payments by the workers just before the strike. Seems to me the union is in a good position to finish these negotiations off.
Leave a Reply