EXCLUSIVE: LIRR strike could start in March if MTA declines proposal - NY Daily News

[QM1to6Ave]

Why aren't LIRR employees under Taylor Law like NYCT employees?

[BreeddekalbL]

Why aren't LIRR employees under Taylor Law like NYCT employees?

 

if im mistaken no they are not they are fra (federal rail road)

[lirr42]

I actually like that LIRR employees not being under the Taylor Law.  The LIRR can actually force the unions to go to a strike if they want to force changes.  While the public take either side during contract negotiations, after service has been suspended for almost a week, they unions will be forced to cave into the railroad's demands.

[Truckie]

Why aren't LIRR employees under Taylor Law like NYCT employees?

LIRR, MNR, and Staten Island Railway fall under the federal Railway Labor Act.

[BreeddekalbL]

I actually like that LIRR employees not being under the Taylor Law.  The LIRR can actually force the unions to go to a strike if they want to force changes.  While the public take either side during contract negotiations, after service has been suspended for almost a week, they unions will be forced to cave into the railroad's demands.

 

but as you see the mta is just punting and will continue till they cant cause from what i hear, presidental boards usually stay firm with their research.  

[Truckie]

The MTA is delaying because they know that if it comes down to a strike, July is less damaging due to many commuters on vacation.

[Kamen Rider]

besides, who wants to be on strike in damp, cold march?

[QM1to6Ave]

LIRR, MNR, and Staten Island Railway fall under the federal Railway Labor Act.

Good to know, thanks

[bobtehpanda]

but as you see the mta is just punting and will continue till they cant cause from what i hear, presidental boards usually stay firm with their research.  

 

What presidential boards say would matter if they weren't so heavily biased in favor of labor and disregarded any sort of normal accounting practices. Any sane arbitration board would not be saying "issue more debt to pay raises." Do you mortgage your house to pay the babysitter and repairman more?

 

In any case, Prendergast has indicated that he would not accept the board's initial decision not because of the raises, but the fact that the board denied his request to allow for work-rule changes. Given that some of the LIRR's work rules are completely arbitrary, that's totally a reasonable request for the MTA to make if it results in long-term savings.

[LIRR 154]

I actually like that LIRR employees not being under the Taylor Law. The LIRR can actually force the unions to go to a strike if they want to force changes. While the public take either side during contract negotiations, after service has been suspended for almost a week, they unions will be forced to cave into the railroad's demands.

How will the unions be forced to cave and when have in any industry not just rail where the workers cave during contract negotiations?The ball is in the MTA hands not ours.

[bobtehpanda]

How will the unions be forced to cave and when have in any industry not just rail where the workers cave during contract negotiations?The ball is in the MTA hands not ours.

 

Tell that to the BART strikers.

 

The BART strikers and management had the same goals: one just wanted raises, and the other just wanted work-rule changes. In the end, both got what they wanted, but the end result was a public that placed most of the blame on the unions.

 

Once again, the MTA's position is that they would like work-rule changes if pay raises get approved.

 

 

MTA officials refused the suggested wage increase, however, claiming that fare hikes might be necessary to accommodate the LIRR worker’s increased salaries. On Thursday, MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast called for resumed negotiations with LIRR workers in Washington D.C. next week. Should these negotiations fail to produce an agreement, Mr. Prendergast said he intends to call on a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) to mediate until July 19, effectively preventing workers from striking until July 20.

 

Mr. Prendergast’s call for an extended period of negotiations will allow both groups a “cool-off period” before any work stoppages occur, he said. 

 

“We want to resolve this at the negotiating table,” MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg told Politicker this afternoon when reached for comment. He said the first PEB indicated “that we should give large raises every year, year after year. Obviously we cannot endorse that.”

 

Mr. Lisberg stated that the MTA wants to raise its workers’ wages, but that funds would have to come from an overhaul of the authority’s “archaic and arcane” work rules. By reforming these costly policies, the MTA believes it can increase wages in a “cost-neutral way,” Mr. Lisberg said.

 

Source: http://politicker.com/2014/02/mta-negotiations-push-possible-lirr-strike-to-july/

[BreeddekalbL]

but what we are saying is that the last PEB board blew the mta apart and usually they hold firm on their research and arguements

as seen here 

http://www.rtands.com/index.php/track-maintenance/off-track-maintenance/presidential-emergency-board-issues-recommendations-regarding-lirr-employees-and-labor-unions.html

 

Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) 244 issued its recommendations December 21 for settling a dispute between the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and its employees represented by the United Transportation Union Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (UTU-SMART) and several other labor unions.

The board's recommendations are non-binding and the parties now have 120 days to reach agreement based on the recommendations.

The three board members recommended that the LIRR pay wage increase totaling 18.4 percent over six years (2.9 percent per year) and employees begin contributing to health insurance premium costs. After factoring in the recommended employee health insurance contributions, the board's recommendations would still produce net wage increases of 2.5 percent per year.

"Obviously, I am satisfied with the board's findings," said SMART TD GO 505 General Chairperson Anthony Simon. "All unions on LIRR will accept the board's recommendations, although they're not everything that we bargained for, so we can avoid any inconvenience to the riding public.

In its report to the President Barack Obama, the board stated that, "It simply cannot be concluded that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's current financial position is one in which it is unable to pay for wage adjustments that are otherwise warranted."

The board's wage recommendations are retroactive to the first year of the contract dispute, which has been ongoing for more than three years. The board rejected MTA's demand that workers accept three years of net zero wage increases, followed by two, two-percent increases over five years.

The board also rejected MTA's demand for major concessions in pensions, including a permanent five percent employee contribution.

The PEB also rejected MTA's demand that retirees begin paying for health insurance and that railroad retirement disability pensions be offset by LIRR's pension payments.

PEB recommendations include that employees begin contributing to health insurance premium costs, beginning at one percent of 40 hours straight-time pay, at the contract's opening date of June 16, 2010, and increasing by .25 percent increments each year thereafter. MTA had proposed larger employee contributions, while the affected unions had proposed no contributions from current employees.

If no agreement is reached, a second PEB can be appointed, whose recommendations would also be non-binding. If no agreement between LIRR and its unions is reached following the second PEB's recommendations, the unions would be free to strike.

[LIRR 154]

Tell that to the BART strikers.

 

The BART strikers and management had the same goals: one just wanted raises, and the other just wanted work-rule changes. In the end, both got what they wanted, but the end result was a public that placed most of the blame on the unions.

 

Once again, the MTA's position is that they would like work-rule changes if pay raises get approved.

 

 

Source: http://politicker.com/2014/02/mta-negotiations-push-possible-lirr-strike-to-july/

The public is always going to blame the workers regardless just because they don't like us. So I'm not looking to score points with them. I score my points by doing my job. As far as work rules go ,they want changes to rules that rarely and i mean rarely go into effect.Mass hirings and the new HOS rules curb those penalty costs to minimum. This is bigger then just some work rules that been around since the 1920's and now its a big deal. The decision making at the MTA is coming from Albany and from a GOV who has said "No state workers will receive a raise for the next 3 years".So when we rejected that 3 zeroes on raises and to put a topper on it have them not get the results from the PEB that they was looking for. That really threw them off and the Gov himself. If we get raises and i feel we will. Every state agency is going to be gunning for the Gov and saying they got raises how come we can't. Thats why these contract talks are watched closely by every state and city public servant agencies in NY. The whole work rules all of the sudden becoming a big deal is some tidbits for the public to grasp on and sway them. What i do find funny is they mention something to the effect that if all of the sudden we don't give into their demands ,they will have to take money away from capital projects like that massive whole in the ground that is being delayed over and over again. Work rules ?? Maybe they should look into waste rules..

[qjtransitmaster]

The public is always going to blame the workers regardless just because they don't like us. So I'm not looking to score points with them. I score my points by doing my job. As far as work rules go ,they want changes to rules that rarely and i mean rarely go into effect.Mass hirings and the new HOS rules curb those penalty costs to minimum. This is bigger then just some work rules that been around since the 1920's and now its a big deal. The decision making at the MTA is coming from Albany and from a GOV who has said "No state workers will receive a raise for the next 3 years".So when we rejected that 3 zeroes on raises and to put a topper on it have them not get the results from the PEB that they was looking for. That really threw them off and the Gov himself. If we get raises and i feel we will. Every state agency is going to be gunning for the Gov and saying they got raises how come we can't. Thats why these contract talks are watched closely by every state and city public servant agencies in NY. The whole work rules all of the sudden becoming a big deal is some tidbits for the public to grasp on and sway them. What i do find funny is they mention something to the effect that if all of the sudden we don't give into their demands ,they will have to take money away from capital projects like that massive whole in the ground that is being delayed over and over again. Work rules ?? Maybe they should look into waste rules..

some capital projects should just get cancelled as they aren't worth it anymore.

[bobtehpanda]

some capital projects should just get cancelled as they aren't worth it anymore.

 

Now that's just stupid. It's far too late to cancel either the SAS or East Side Access, both of which are still very much worth it (although the value of ESA is limited if the Main Line third track isn't built). The MTA would've wasted billions of already spent dollars digging an empty hole, and for what? Escalator and elevator shafts are done, the station shell exists, and all the tunnels have been completed. And you want to cancel the project now?

 

The time to cancel this was long ago.

[RTOMan]

The public is always going to blame the workers regardless just because they don't like us. So I'm not looking to score points with them. I score my points by doing my job. As far as work rules go ,they want changes to rules that rarely and i mean rarely go into effect.Mass hirings and the new HOS rules curb those penalty costs to minimum. This is bigger then just some work rules that been around since the 1920's and now its a big deal. The decision making at the MTA is coming from Albany and from a GOV who has said "No state workers will receive a raise for the next 3 years".So when we rejected that 3 zeroes on raises and to put a topper on it have them not get the results from the PEB that they was looking for. That really threw them off and the Gov himself. If we get raises and i feel we will. Every state agency is going to be gunning for the Gov and saying they got raises how come we can't. Thats why these contract talks are watched closely by every state and city public servant agencies in NY. The whole work rules all of the sudden becoming a big deal is some tidbits for the public to grasp on and sway them. What i do find funny is they mention something to the effect that if all of the sudden we don't give into their demands ,they will have to take money away from capital projects like that massive whole in the ground that is being delayed over and over again. Work rules ?? Maybe they should look into waste rules..

 

 

Great Post and notice no reply  from anyone debating with you from before.

 

Silence speaks volumes.....

[traingoat]

What is missed in this whole debate is costs for running this railroad are going up and I don't mean labor costs.  Energy costs have gone up considerably  since the Dems got control of DC.  Diesel fuel and electricity are for practical purposes double of what they had 4 years ago.  Now the MTA and Albany are playing a balancing act.  If they raise the fares higher then they lose ridership for multiple reasons. including  businesses moving out of NYC and eroding the tax base.  You have county government on Long Island near bankruptcy with a lousy economy meaning things are tight everywhere.  Remember New York has been losing people over the years because of taxation and economy and doesn't have a good rep with attracting business but the size of government hasn't shrunk. At one time things were made in New York but not anymore.  Offices can be operated anywhere with computers why pay the taxes and the wages

[Akira]

Now that's just stupid. It's far too late to cancel either the SAS or East Side Access, both of which are still very much worth it (although the value of ESA is limited if the Main Line third track isn't built). The MTA would've wasted billions of already spent dollars digging an empty hole, and for what? Escalator and elevator shafts are done, the station shell exists, and all the tunnels have been completed. And you want to cancel the project now?

 

The time to cancel this was long ago.

Oh man, if either of those capital projects are suddenly cancelled now, there will be an uproar like you wouldn't believe - especially the SAS, knowing the typical UESer and how much they've complained about the construction up to now.

[traingoat]

Wasting money is par for the course with any governmental authority. or governmental movement.  Look the SAS has been on the books since the 40's when they took down the El.  How many sets of plans did they draw up at what cost without digging one hole.  The El was removed from Queensboro Plaza in 42, The BMT tracks moved in 1949 to the present and the unused portion of the station removed  how many years later.  Nothing in this city is ever built in one lump.  It is built piecemeal as they change their minds in midstream or run out of money. Nothing changes as they operate on crisis government and planning and the squeeky wheel gets the grease.