The MTA and transit workers’ union have reached a tentative contract agreement.
MTA Chairman and CEO Pat Foye and the Transport Workers Union Local 100 announced an agreement Wednesday after months of bitter back-and-forth between the authority and the union, which represents roughly 40,000 employees in the subway and bus system.
“We have reached a tentative agreement with TWU Local 100 that’s fair to taxpayers, our riders and the tens of thousands of transit employees who have worked hard to improve subway and bus service benefiting 8 million daily customers,” Foye said in a statement. “This tentative agreement continues the forward momentum of NYC Transit that has led to a surge in subway on-time performance and ridership increases that reflect our customers’ returning confidence in the system.”
Union employees had been working without a contract since May.
Both parties in their announcement were tight-lipped on details. TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano said in a statement he was confident that union membership will ratify the settlement “in overwhelming fashion” after a discussion on the agreement scheduled for Thursday. The framework for the deal was reached over the weekend and finalized after “several days of intense bargaining,” Utano went on.
“I wish to thank TWU members for the incredible support you provided to me and the Local 100 leadership throughout this campaign,” Utano said. “We were truly united. We will be reporting details of the agreement as soon as the Executive Board has had an opportunity to vote on it.”
