Proposed Rail MTA Contract Offer Scorned by Rail Unions, L.I.R.R. Faces Strike By Angry Union Members

Proposed Rail MTA Contract Offer Scorned by Rail Unions, L.I.R.R. Faces Strike By Angry Union Members
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/25/nyregion/contract-offer-scorned-lirr-f...
By MATT FLEGENHEIMERJUNE 24, 2014
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Anita Miller is director of labor relations for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. CreditChang W. Lee/The New York Times

Fearing a strike on the Long Island Rail Road, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said on Tuesday that it had expanded its offer to union leaders, granting “everything that they’ve asked for,” with raises of 17 percent over seven years.

But shortly after the proposal was unveiled, Anthony Simon, the leader of the railroad’s largest labor group, criticized the offer, which was presented on Monday, as “way below” what the unions had requested.

The unions have indeed called for 17 percent raises, but over six years, not seven. The authority’s proposal also requires new employees, hired after the potential ratification, to contribute 4 percent of their salaries toward the cost of their health insurance. Current employees would be asked to contribute 2 percent. Under the expired agreement, employees did not contribute any of their salaries to health care.

New hires would also be asked to contribute to their pensions for longer than veteran employees.

The offer does not include changes to work rules.

Anita Miller, the authority’s director of labor relations, said the authority had repeatedly improved its offer over the last several months.

“The Long Island Rail Road unions have not modified their position one cent,” she said.

Railroad workers voted in February to authorize a strike. It could take place as early as July 20, potentially stranding about 300,000 daily riders and creating an election year headache for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

Since December, two federal mediation panels have rejected the authority’s contract proposals for rail workers. The most recent ruling, delivered in May by a three-member board appointed by President Obama, called union leaders’ offer of a 17 percent raise over six years “the most reasonable.”

The authority offer at the time had called for an 11 percent raise over six years — a deal modeled after an agreement that subway and bus workers ratified last month, according to the authority.

The latest offer, officials said, was based on the parameters laid out by the federal mediation panel.

Mr. Simon suggested that the change in course from the authority, which had previously said it could not afford such large increases, raised doubts about its credibility.

“Their strategy has changed every single step of the way,” he said. “They just look like liars.”

Ms. Miller warned that it would be “a grave mistake” for the railroad workers to strike.

Adam Lisberg, a spokesman for the authority, said that possible contingency plans, including a shuttle bus system, could carry only a small fraction of the railroad’s ridership. “Nothing can accommodate them all,” Mr. Lisberg said. “That’s why there is a Long Island Rail Road.”