Just because the Transit Workers Union approved the contract 4 months later doesn’t mean the MTA is prepared to call it over…
Given a second chance, transit workers have overwhelmingly ratified the contract offer they had narrowly rejected before – but their vote was casually dismissed by MTA leaders as an “empty gesture.”
Bus and subway workers approved the contract proposal by a margin of 71% to 29%, Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint announced yesterday to enthusiastic applause.
“The MTA has both a legal and moral obligation to ratify this contract,” Toussaint said. “A deal is a deal, and they should stick to it.”
But Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Peter Kalikow was unimpressed. He has said the agency is not legally bound by the results of the second vote and said the matter will be decided by binding arbitration.
Kalikow said that the contract offer was off the table the minute the TWU rejected the contract, and many news outlets have mentioned that when discussing the story; the fact that the TWU was voting on a contract that wasn’t officially out there anymore. It’s very interesting that they still think the MTA is under obligation to approve it.
I also found it interested that convicted union leader Toussaint is lecturing anyone on moral and legal obligations after his illegal strike crippled the city during Christmas.
Let it go to binding arbitration. The MTA has nothing to lose by it going to an arbitrator, and for all intents and purposes, they should do absolutely nothing to make things easier for the union.
Screw ‘em.
[tags]twu, mta, transit workers union, strike[/tags]