{"id":251858,"date":"2026-06-02T04:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T04:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/251858\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T04:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T04:22:11","slug":"it-requires-a-fight-nyc-transit-worker-speaks-out-on-contract-demands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/251858\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt requires a fight\u201d: NYC transit worker speaks out on contract demands"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York transit workers: Fill out the form at the end of this article<\/a> to tell us what you are demanding in the new contract. All comments will remain anonymous.<\/p>\n

A subway train pulls into a station in New York. [AP Photo\/Seth Wenig]<\/p>\n

Around 40,000 subway and bus workers in New York City\u2019s Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) remain on the job more than two weeks since their collective bargaining agreement expired. Their determination to fight significant concessions demanded by management, while winning pay increases to keep pace with inflation and other key demands, is bringing them into direct conflict with both management and the union bureaucracy.<\/p>\n

Workers are fighting against the staggering inequality and corporate oligarchy centered in the world\u2019s financial capital. The consequences of decades of neglect of the transport infrastructure were underscored last Friday when a fire broke out in Penn Station, the country\u2019s busiest train station and located only a few miles from Wall Street, injuring five people.<\/p>\n

Management claims that wages keeping pace with inflation, currently running at 4.6 percent in New York City, are \u201cunaffordable.\u201d Its initial \u201coffer\u201d was only 2 percent annually, combined with a doubling of healthcare contributions by workers and sharp limits on overtime and sick leave.<\/p>\n

The three-day strike last month by 3,500 Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) workers was an opening stage in this struggle. The LIRR, New York City\u2019s busiest commuter rail system, is part of the MTA although under a separate contract. The three-day strike was shut down abruptly without any input from the membership, while union officials refused to release details, on the grounds that they did \u201cnot want to fail ratification.\u201d The shutdown underscored the role of the bureaucracy in limiting the struggle and bypassing the democratic will of members.<\/p>\n

The four-year deal includes 4.5 percent for next year, barely keeping pace with inflation. This falls well below what workers need, but even this triggered alarm bells in the corporate media, which is worried it will only embolden workers in Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 to hold out for more.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, a track maintenance worker spoke with the WSWS on the issues in the contract.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad that they reached a decision, an agreement [on the Long Island Rail Road], and I hope that we don\u2019t even have to go through that process. If we don\u2019t have to go on strike, it would be a great situation if we make moves.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, he stressed, meeting their demands required a fight. \u201cThey wanted to isolate the struggle. That they want to go ahead and pin us against each other, which shouldn\u2019t be done. We\u2019re under the same umbrella, so we need to get the same love or the same appreciation as LIRR or as Metro-North [the other MTA-operated commuter railroad]. Sometimes as transit, we don\u2019t see that. They want to cut our wages. We contribute a large majority to our health care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked what he is demanding in the new contract, he explained: \u201cI\u2019m trying to make sure that we get a contract that\u2019s better than the \u2026 wages that we have going on now. So we can fight for something at a good number [i.e., percent wage increases]. And usually, you know, they\u2019re not going to give us that number. That\u2019s why you\u2019ve only got to fight for something higher.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pointed to sharp limits on overtime as one of his key issues. \u201cThere should be no cap [on overtime]. We are capped.\u201d For the lowest Tier 6 workers, those hired after April of 2012, pensionable overtime pay is legally capped at $21,589. However, a recently signed state law will increase the cap to $30,000 starting next year.<\/p>\n

The union bureaucracy has hailed this as a major legislative \u201cvictory,\u201d with TWU officials boasting that it was the largest increase in the cap since Tier 6 was created and presenting it as proof of their lobbying efforts in Albany. But the higher limits are likely to be offset by management\u2019s proposed contract changes aimed at slashing overtime opportunities altogether.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo they just kind of improve something for Tier 6, saying that we can be capped at $30,000. But we shouldn\u2019t be capped at all. We work hard for the money. We should be able to get every dollar that we have. What happened to Trump saying that we\u2019re going to get the tax-free on overtime, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it requires a fight,\u201d he said. \u201cIt definitely requires a fight. And the union tries to say, well, we can\u2019t do anything, \u2018We\u2019ve got the Taylor law,\u2019 the law in New York state banning public employees from striking. It looks like they point their finger at New York Transit for that Taylor law. But there have been strikes. I could say the teachers union, all the unions were built against them saying you can\u2019t strike. But we have to still fight that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked by the WSWS whether this fight required \u201cuniting all the workers,\u201d he replied, \u201cI agree with that. That\u2019s the main concern that we have. As I said, they like to put everybody against each other. And then you see that they\u2019ll [claim to] give us a great number but then we\u2019ll get a 2 percent or 1 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSo now that the LIRR have their [4.5] percent,\u201d he continued, \u201cwe want to see something at least like that for the next three, five years \u2026 So, yes, we do need to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked for his thoughts on a general strike he replied: \u201cI have absolutely no problem with that \u2026 This is serious stuff. I have no problem with agreeing with you that Trump is a fascist. I mean, the thing is we shouldn\u2019t be at war, as you know now. Like Iran. Why are we at war? But they say, oh, we\u2019re doing it for Israel. It doesn\u2019t make any sense to be at war. But these are the decisions that the little man, like myself, we don\u2019t make them.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked his thoughts about building rank-and-file committees to unite transit workers in a common fight, he replied: \u201cThat\u2019s right. They even play bus drivers against subway workers. [They tell subway workers] \u2018You do it better than them or they get more money than you.\u2019 \u2026 And, of course, the union leaders make six-digit salaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about the cost of living in New York City, he replied: \u201cWell, I\u2019m probably in a different situation than a lot of others. But I am definitely being affected by the gas prices, with the price of food, groceries. And just the homeless situation in New York City, everything has just fallen down \u2026 There has to be a big-time cleanup.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, just in general, we just want to see the city better. But that takes money. That takes time. And that takes dedication. It takes some effort to get better. Money, of course, is always going to be needed to solve the problems. All the big developers, all they do is build and build and push [workers] out. And all you see is old things going down and new things being built up.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now the rent is higher than ever. Did you see how Brooklyn is looking? Did you see how Long Island City is looking? For years, they were depredated areas and now they have drastically changed. They look like Little Manhattan. Now, that means the city is growing and we\u2019re making money. But where is the money going? It\u2019s not going to the little, man. So, it\u2019s got to be going to the bigger corporations and the conglomerates.\u201d<\/p>\n

On a rank-and-file committee to unite transit workers, he concluded, \u201cI think I would go for it. I wouldn\u2019t have no qualms of pushing that back. I think I would be in favor. At least seeing how it goes, why not? We already know how things are working for us now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Make your voice heard! Tell us what your working conditions are like and what you are fighting for. We will protect your anonymity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York transit workers: Fill out the form at the end of this article to tell us what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1606,141,9,56,63,65,64,7968,20947],"class_list":["post-251858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-lirr","tag-mta","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-penn-station","tag-twu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}