3.5.2014, 06:04 PMMTA requests additional mediation with LIRR unions, delaying possible strike until July 19 TINA FINEBERG/ASSOCIATED PRESS A potential strike by LIRR workers has been legally delayed until at least July 19 because the MTA requested a second round of mediation. The earliest possible date for a potential Long Island Rail Road strike has been legally pushed back to July 19, officials revealed on Wednesday. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority officially requested that a second Presidential Emergency Board be formed to conduct another round of mediation to end the labor dispute with LIRR workers who have been without a contract for more than three years. The move automatically extends the earliest date at which the unions can legally strike under federal federal Railway Labor Act from March 21 to July 19th, officials said. A previously formed federal panel of neutral mediators recommended a resolution in December that included modest annual raises of 2.83% over six years. That panel also recommended LIRR workers be required for the first time to contribute financially towards the health care premiums. But the MTA rejected the proposal as too costly, taking issue with the fact the proposed wage hikes would not be completely offset by savings from work-rule changes. Some union members have already voted to authorize a strike, and union leaders have said they will lead a walkout once the final legal hurdle if an agreement is not in place. FRANK FRANKLIN II/APUnions representing LIRR workers have been without a contract for more than three years. “The MTA wants to resolve these contract issues at the bargaining table, where they belong,” the authority said in a press release that announced LIRR President Helena Williams had written to the White House on Wednesday to make the request. The authority’s release reiterated an argument that MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast previously made in testimony to lawmakers in Albany: that if the raises included in the first presidential board were applied to MTA workers across the board, it would require the authority to institute a 12% fare hike next year — triple what is already planned — or cut $6 billion from the capital budget. “In recent years our customers have seen fares rise while service was cut. Their employers have paid a new Payroll Mobility Tax to fund the MTA. The MTA has cut almost $1 billion in recurring annual expenses,” the authority’s statement read. “The MTA hopes the second Presidential Emergency Board will take everyone elses sacrifices into account as it begins this process.” Leaders of the LIRR unions have noted, however, that the first presidential board reviewed the MTA’s books and determined it could afford the proposed raises. Anthony Simon, chairman of the Sheet metal, Air, Rail and Transportation union, which represents some LIRR workers, said the MTA continues to find money to spend on what they want to spend it on. He referred to a contract recentely given to MTA Police Department workers and the MTA boards vote last week to give Staten Island residents a toll reduction on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which will cost the authority at least $7 million a year. All but one of the roughly 60 MTA unions is working without a contract.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 02:09:02 +0000
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