{"id":767559,"date":"2026-05-02T05:52:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T05:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/767559\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T05:52:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T05:52:38","slug":"transit-workers-union-calls-mtas-opening-contract-demands-slap-in-the-face-as-talks-kick-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/767559\/","title":{"rendered":"Transit workers union calls MTA\u2019s opening contract demands \u2018slap in the face\u2019 as talks kick off"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Chiarello, president of TWU\u2019s Local 100,<\/a>\u00a0posted a\u00a0social media video on Thursday in which he<\/a> called the MTA\u2019s opening demands in collective bargaining for the union\u2019s new three-year contract\u00a0a \u201cslap in the face\u201d and a \u201cdisgrace.\u201d He charged that the agency is proposing the union\u2019s 40,000 New York City Transit members pay more for health insurance and emergency room visits, accept reduced overtime, and abide by stricter sick time rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pissed off, I think this is a slap in the face to our membership,\u201d Chiarello said in the video \u2014 filmed in front of the MTA\u2019s Lower Manhattan headquarters, where the union is hosting a May Day rally at 5 p.m. on Friday. The actions come as the TWU\u2019s current contract with the MTA expires at midnight on May 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re gonna fill this canyon from front to back with our members and let them know May 1, the TWU is laying our claim right here at 2 Broadway,\u201d he added.\n<\/p>\n

Chiarello said the MTA is offering 2% raises over the next three years.\n<\/p>\n

But at the same time, he said the MTA wants to more than double workers\u2019 health insurance contributions and impose higher ER visit co-payments. The agency is also floating employees work four days before becoming eligible for overtime, as opposed to the current three; and must call out sick at least four hours in advance, instead of the current one.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people are not even awake four hours before they go to work,\u201d said Ellen Moynihan, a spokesperson for TWU Local 100. \u201cSo if your shift starts at 8 a.m., they want you to wake up at 4 a.m. and determine whether or not you\u2019re going to go in and then call in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Chiarello charged, the transit agency has proposed reducing workers\u2019 flexibility in choosing their routes and schedules, which he called \u201cpre-packaged picks.\u201d Currently, workers are able to choose their routes and schedules, but the MTA wants to package those together.<\/p>\n

MTA boss Lieber insists no demands for \u2018give-backs\u2019
\n\"MTAFILE \u2013 MTA workers making track repairs in Brooklyn.Marc A. Hermann \/ MTA<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber responded to Chiarello\u2019s claims during an unrelated Friday news conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to give people raises that allow them to keep up with the cost of living and reward our workforce that is the heart of the MTA system,\u201d Lieber said during the event.\n<\/p>\n

The transit boss insisted that the MTA is not demanding \u201cgive-backs,\u201d but rather \u201cthings that are consistent with the basic realities of efficiency.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to be creating overtime, instead of having people work four or five days a week on regular time,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve lost 10 days a year, in terms of the average worker, in the last few years, to sick time and other kinds of absences. So, we have to develop a system, together with the union, collaborating with the union, that\u2019s gonna make sure that the public is getting the full efforts of the people that they are paying for.\u201d<\/p>\n

The negotiations come as Local 100\u2019s parent union, TWU International, is pushing state legislation<\/a> that would require the MTA to keep two train operators on all subway lines that currently have them. Presently, most subway lines operate with two-man crews, except for the three shuttle services and certain routes during off-peak hours.<\/p>\n

The union is pushing the measure to secure its members\u2019 jobs out of fear that the MTA will seek to expand one-person-train-operation (OPTO), in which it would replace conductors with automated systems, leaving train drivers as the only human operators onboard.<\/p>\n

MTA officials fiercely oppose the bill<\/a>, taking issue with its restrictions on them expanding OPTO in the future.<\/p>\n

Will the talks end in a strike?\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York City hasn\u2019t had a transit strike in more than 20 years, and it\u2019s too early to say whether the union is prepared to take such action if negotiations with the MTA go nowhere in the weeks ahead.<\/p>\n

A source with knowledge of the TWU\u2019s thinking said that Chiarello has indicated that nothing is off the table, including a possible work stoppage.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

TWU workers last walked off the job in December 2005, breaking the state\u2019s Taylor Law, which prohibits them from taking such labor action because they are classified as essential government workers. The strike lasted roughly two days before a settlement was reached, but the TWU was later hit with a $2.5 million fine for the walkout.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moreover, the TWU Local 100 president at the time, Roger Toussaint, wound up being jailed for 10 days for leading the strike.\n<\/p>\n

The talks are also heating up as five unions representing half of the Long Island Rail Road workforce have threatened to go on strike on May 16.<\/a> The coalition of unions is demanding that the MTA give its workers higher raises without imposing new work rules.<\/p>\n

Lieber on Friday said that a \u201cstrike is bad for everybody.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s bad for the workers, it\u2019s bad for the public, it\u2019s bad for the economy,\u201d Lieber said. \u201cWe gotta figure out a way to avoid it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n