Letter to Patrick Foye, Chairman and CEO Metropolitan Transportation Authority and to John Costa, International President of Amalgamated Transit Union - Rose Leads Bipartisan NY Delegation Push for MTA and ATU Negotiate Fair Labor Deal

Letter

Dear Mr. Foye and Mr. Costa:

We are writing to urge you to adhere to long-standing tradition and fairness by negotiating in good faith for an equitable contract for MTA workers represented by the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) on Staten Island and in Queens. We understand that the MTA and ATU have yet to agree on a renewed contract, despite the MTA reaching an agreement with its largest union, Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100, in January. Pattern bargaining has been a consistent feature of transit work in New York more broadly and will provide stability for our workforce throughout the current pandemic in which so many transit workers have risked their lives.

New York City has of course been at the epicenter of our nation's coronavirus outbreak. During these dark days, one bright light has been the selflessness of our transit workers. While many New Yorkers sheltered in place at home, these essential workers have reported to work each day, making sure that our transit-dependent constituents can get to the doctor, the grocery store, and the pharmacy. Without them, many of our exhausted doctors and nurses would not have been able to get to hospitals and save lives. The number of MTA workers killed by the coronavirus now stands at more than 120, and thousands have been infected because they are continuously exposed to large crowds of transit riders at close range, driving buses with major air flow issues.

Simultaneously, the MTA has been significantly impacted by the pandemic, with tollbox revenues plummeting and increased expenses associated with sanitizing the transit system increasing. We were proud to secure supplemental funding for the MTA to address these revenue shortfalls and to prevent service cuts, and support providing these workers with necessary hazard pay and benefits for the families of those who die in the line of duty. We therefore ask that you come to an agreement that will provide equitable benefits to all of New York's transit workforce.

TWU's members in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx were rightfully called heroes during the pandemic and are due the 2.3% average raise over four years provided for in their contract. We ask that their brothers and sisters in ATU who perform the same work on Staten Island and in Queens receive an equitable contract. We urge you to honor the MTA's tradition of pattern bargaining. As we did in the CARES Act, we will continue to lead the way in the fight for transit funding to ensure that MTA has the resources it needs to pay its workers fairly and safely operate the world's greatest transit system.

Thank you for your consideration of our views.