How would a Port Authority transit stoppage affect you?

The contract dispute between the Port Authority and the union representing bus and trolley workers is headed for a showdown in December, when the Port Authority intends to impose its "last and best offer" contract on Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85. The union has scheduled a meeting for Nov. 23 that may lead to authorizing a strike. [ Read PG story ]

If there is a transit stoppage, how would you be affected? Are you making alternate plans for transportation to work, school, appointments or other vital trips?

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The Port Authority needs to hold it's ground.  Unions are part of what caused jobs to be shipped overseas and businesses to fail.  Look at the Auto Industry.  Why do you think Toyota and BMW are so successfull in the US?  It is partly due to their business model but also partly due to being located in the southern "right to work" states.  Their employees are paid well and get nice benefits... like sales on BMW's and others.  I do not see any of those men attempting to move up north to work at Ford or GM. 

The same thing will happen to the Port Authority that is happening to the auto industry and happened to the steel industry.  The union will demand pay increases and other items.  If the Port Authority caves then Pittsburgh will continue to see its debt rise... and the tax payers will be stuck with the bill. 

Get the facts before you comment, please. It is not and never was the wages of the union members holding up negotiations. It is legacy costs, and the union offered a plan to take care of the cost of retirees healthcare. The Authority rejected the offer. The impass and looming LOCKOUT, will be at the fault of the Authority. Mr.Bland was sent to cut the system, he has no regard for the riding public or the thousands of transit workers. He will destroy this system and move on to the next. It is the taxpayers of this county which  includes thousands of transit workers who need to stand strong and support these vital jobs in this county.

Is their any way o get information on the Union's offer to take over the legacy costs?

This situation grows more intolerable each day. While I certainly respect the transit workers and the service they provide, Patrick McMahon and his membership need to get a grip on realty. Steven Bland wasn't sent here to destroy the system, he was sent here to save it. If that means taking a harder line with the union than in years past, then so be it. Both the managment and union leadership are responsible for this situation. The management got in bed with the union and now the taxpayers and riding public in Allegheny County are expected to pay the price. They need to fix it sooner rather than later. And if that means your executive bonus is gone, then so be it. If that means you have to contribute 10 percent (gasp) toward your healthcare costs then so be it. Unions are meant to protect workers, provide FAIR pay and build a working relationship withi management to benefit the company as a whole. Everyone is paying the price expect for Local 85 - restauarant owners, the ridership, management has given back. Local 85 needs to make serious concessions.  McMahon said that accepting the fact finders report would have erased 50 years of collective bargaining. In essence, that's what needs to happen. They deserve to be paid fairly with good benefits, but can't afford to be held hostage by this union for much longer.

The offer was in the last proposal to the Authority, the one Mr.Bland walked out on. I heard mention of it on one of the local news channels, the proposal was from mid to late October, perhaps it was KDKA. The gist of the offer was, to have the union members contribute to a fund that the union would then invest, which is how our pension is funded. The Authority (Mr.Bland) is playing dirty as far as I can see.,He never mentions that the union has and does support cutting and savings for the taxpayers.We constantly give our input as to how and where reductions in service could benifit the taxpayer, how we volunteer in programs even initiate programs to save thousands of dollars a month on the premiums paid by the Authority. People have to undrstand that we are the hourly worker, the taxpayer, the people who contribute and raise our families in this county.

 To union proud and his/her follower's:  your going down like the big auto companies. Greed will do it every time. Union's are tearing the workforce down. Toyota, Honda and Nissan don't pay someone $50 and hour + tons of benefits to put on wiper blades; like GM, Ford, Chrylser does.  Your union is next. Go ahead and stick to your guns - I'll send you "jobs wanted" adds from the paper. Gravy train has to stop for you and the big wigs running Port Authority.  Collect your unemployement union money but when that runs out, youm your family and your teamster buddies will be out on the street like the thousands now (thanks to George Bush).  I want to take Dan's (PA money) 30 million and give it to someone willing to run another transit company. Change the state law and let it happen now! That's next....

Again as I said before, Get the facts, know what you're talking about before you comment. You especially, because you just sound angry and jealous. We are not Teamsters we are ATU. We do not make $50.00 an hour we are paid a living wage, our yearly income is $52,000.00, you wouldn't know it maybe, but that is middle class, hard to recognize because we are disapeering across this country. Get educated America, everyone can't live on the system some of us enjoy contributing to this ever failing ECONOMY!!!

 I don't know if link below will work, but the website is pghtransitinfo.com.  There are PDF files of the union's most recent offer and the authority's final best offier.  There is no indication anywhere in the Union's most recent offer that they are willing to take over legacy costs. It also doesn't appear that the Union is making any significant concessions.  The only one of note was the elimination of the $500 monthy supplement for early retirees on the condition that the multiplier be increase from 2.25 to 2.5.  Unfortunately, I can't figure out what the multiplier represents.     There is also a side by side comparison of the union's and the authority's offers.  The offer by the authority is more than fair and it seems as though the union would be foolish to strike in these current turbulent ecconomic times.   Under the authority's final offer, they will continue to be highly reimbursed, have very rich health care/pension benefits, and are far better off than similarly situated persons with the same skill level and education.  If they do strike, they will be totally left out in the cold if the Authority eventually shuts down, and will be fighting with equally qualifed people for lesser jobs.  There are a lot of unemployed DHL drivers out there who will be flooding the market for these jobs 

As a union member, I would also seriously question why the union board refused to let their members vote on the fact finder's recommendation which was slightly better than the Authority's in that the financials were the same but the overtime abuse and the requirement to show up for work on time were not addressed.   

http://www.pghtransitinfo.com/LbrNegBargain.html

With all due respect to the drivers who get me to and from work each day, it seems to me that the union is being overly greedy, which really doesn't come as a surprise since that's essentially what unions have become these days. I remember reading last year that when the cost-of-living in each city is taken into account, the bus drivers in Pittsburgh are the highest paid drivers in the nation. And god forbid people have to pay more for their health care premiums! 30 years ago when healthcare costs were more under control, companies could afford to go out and provide 100% coverage for their employees. In these times though, that kind of contribution just is not possible. Costs have risen across the board: fuel costs, maintenence costs, labor costs, etc. The riders have been forced to face the brunt of these increased costs, and now that we have created a new tax (Drink tax) soley to fund this obviously flawed business plan, everyone in Allegheny county is paying the price. I work a white collar job, and guess what...my health benefits are terrible and I still have to pay hundreds of dollars a month to get them.

The pension costs have become the noose that the Port Authority will eventually hang by if things are not changed drastically. SEPTA, the transit agency in Philadelphia, has 3 times as many retirees as PAT, yet they pay less than half of what PAT does for retired employees.

This system will not survive without major changes to the labor contract. The union needs to understand that, especially in these tough economic times, there will be no more government handouts to fund failing transit systems. The State and Federal government will look to cut costs and transit operators will see this form of income dwindle.

I don't blame the drivers for getting PAT into this position in the first place, since managment did a pretty good job at messing things up, but it's time to move past those old mistakes and work towards achieving a labor agreement that will not only allow the drivers to be happy...but also ensures me and the other hundreds of thousands of riders that depend on public transportation that PAT will still be around 5 years from now. Afterall...no buses means no drivers.

$52,000 a year to drive a bus? Sounds more than fair to me. Sign me up. What kind of college education do I need?

I make well under $40K in the marketing industry with no overtime pay and absolutely bust my hump. I work for a struggling company where the concept of a raise is impossible during the current economic condition. I am not in a union. It's the millions upon millions of people like me who are struggling.

I'd practically sell my soul for $52,000 plus benefits.

I am confused at what proposal you read on the link you posted. Look at the third(3rd) section paragraph two(2). It clearly describes an employee trust that would competly free the Authority of retiree health costs.

Apply at your local job service, pass a drug test and physical, and come on!! We'de be glad to have you.

 Union Proud,

           "PortAuthority’s primary goal in contract negotiations was to rein in unsustainable and excessive healthcare and post-retirement benefits costs by asking the ATU leadership to accept a fair contract with wage and benefits concessions comparable to those in place for non-union, management and Police Association employees.

While Port Authority was committed to working with the ATU Local 85 leadership to craft a contract that is not only fair to transit workers but also to taxpayers and transit riders, ATU negotiators offered no contract concessions and continued to delay the progress toward a solution."

 Let's take a look at some of the highlights of the deal:

 The highlights did not post for some reason... here they are.

Primary provisions of the new ATU Local 85 contract include:

Three percent wage increases effective January 1, 2009; January 1, 2010; and January 1, 2011.

Continuation of excellent healthcare package with employees contributing 7 ½ percent of the premium cost effective January 1, 2009, and 10 percent of premium effective January 1, 2010.

Post-retirement healthcare package that, in order to receive the benefit, encourages employees to work longer to a higher age and requires a minimal contribution toward the cost.

Elimination of post-retirement healthcare completely for ATU employees hired on or after December 1, 2008.

▪ Increased ATU employee pension contributions from 4 ½ percent to 5 ½ percent effective January 1, 2009 and 6 ½ percent effective January 1, 2010.

Elimination of daily overtime for work in excess of eight hours in a work day. Overtime is based solely on hours actually worked in excess of 40 hours in a work week.

Elimination of the previous contract provision that allows employees to show up late for work 13 times before receiving even a written warning.

Expansion of Port Authority’s current ability to subcontract, without limitation,

custodial work, landscaping/grass cutting, snow removal, bus and rail vehicle cleaning, offboard fare collection, parts room functions and other functions or services that can be provided at a reduced cost for the benefit of taxpayers and riders.