Transit Labor Relations-NO DEALS. NO MERCY. AND NO ACCOUNTABILITY FOR WASTING TAXPAYER MONEY.

In a recent post, I warned you about how the Transit Authority is doing business with its unions: no deals and no mercy for anyone.

Make one mistake, and management will seek to fire you—regardless of your spotless record, years of service, or history as a dedicated Transit employee.

Well, we just received an arbitration decision yesterday involving one of our members who was held out of work without pay since July 10, 2026, suspended and facing dismissal.

The Arbitrator reinstated our member, imposed a five-day suspension without pay, and awarded him full back pay for all other time lost—approximately $15,000.

So let’s look at what this means.

The employee will now receive approximately $15,000 in back pay for being kept out of work. And the position he normally worked was covered by overtime during the entire period.

Based on that, it is reasonable to estimate that this unnecessary suspension could ultimately cost New York taxpayers approximately $40,000.

And for what?

This is what happens when MTA Labor Relations can make decisions with other people’s money. They don’t personally pay the price when they make a bad decision. The taxpayers do.

There has to be accountability.

Labor Relations should be looking for fair and reasonable outcomes that protect the Authority, its employees and the taxpayers—not pursuing discipline simply because they can.

When management loses an arbitration case, the bill doesn’t come out of their pockets. It comes out of ours.

This isn’t about giving employees a free pass when they make mistakes. It’s about fairness, proportionality, good judgment and responsible use of public money.

TWU Local 106 will continue to fight for our members—and we will continue to expose the cost of bad decisions made by the MTA.

Philip Valenti, President