Contract Bargaining Update

This morning we met with Labor Relations on all four of the outstanding contracts and this is where as of today;

MSII Contract- We are basically done and have an agreement in principle with everything resolved. There were two minor items that needed to be checked on their end, but we’re done! Labor Relations needs to take all of that has been agreed to and negotiated and put that into a final document that can be voted on by the membership. We’re certain once you see what we achieved you will be very happy, and you’ll understand why this has taken so long. As soon as we have the signed contract in hand, we will immediately send it out to you and that will be soon.

MaBSTOA and Queens TA- We are basically done negotiating these two contracts as well. There is one issue that is not resolved that I will be meeting next week with Buses V.P. Annicaro to further discuss and hopefully resolve. On that same day, I have another contract meeting with Labor relations to go over all of the costings again, because some of the numbers that I received today need to be checked to make sure everything jives and that all of the evaluations are correct. I’m very happy with the gains we made in this contract and I’m positive you’ll be as well. Labor Relations is putting together the final terms of the agreement which we should have shortly. As soon I have the agreements done, we will send it out for an immediate meeting and vote.

MTA Bus- This contract will take longer than the others because of the work that’s going into it and the attempt to try and close the gap to achieve pay parity with the OA and Queens. As I’ve said before, I presented a large-scale package with five different components that involve different areas of the DOB that combined we believe should get us to parity. I’ve had joint meetings with Labor Relations and the folks at Zerega and the BCC but there is more work that has to be done as the effects of this agreement are complicated and go into unchartered territory. But it’s all going to work out that I’m sure of. All I can ask at this point is that you understand what we’re trying to achieve and continue to be patient and for that I can assure you that all of the pressure that I can apply to get this contract done is being exerted daily. We will get there soon it’s just going to take a bit more time as we work through this.