The MTA and its largest workers’ union haven’t been to the bargaining table in over three months, with each side blaming the other for the breakdown in talks.
The 35,000-member strong Transport Workers Union Local 100 — which has been without a contract for over a year — claims the MTA has refused to negotiate since ex-chairman Joseph Lhota quit to run for mayor.
“We have informed the MTA that we are fully prepared to continue bargaining,” the TWU said in a contract update to its members.
“They responded that they won’t be ready to come back to the table until after Gov. Cuomo appoints, and the State Senate confirms, a new chair of the agency.”
Robert Kalfus
Members of Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100
It’s unclear when that will be. Cuomo has not named a successor to Lhota.
But MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz called the TWU’s claims “pure fiction.”
An agency official blamed said the TWU refused to schedule time to come to the table.
The MTA has continued contract talks with other workers unions, the official said.
The two sides are at odds over the TWU’s demands for cost-of-living raises.
Meanwhile, the MetroNorth conductors union recently rejected a five year contract that guaranteed raises in the fourth year, according to the TWU’s update to members.
The TWU claims that rejection bolsters its hardline position on raises.
In October, TWU president John Samuelsen told members the MTA was offering 4 percent raises over 5 years, but he rejected it.
jennifer.fermino@nypost.com
MTA, workers' union contract negotiations stalled for past 3 months
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MTA, workers' union contract negotiations stalled for past 3 months
