Was This The Best The LIRR Unions Could Do?

Given the leverage the LIRR unions had in their negotiations, it being an election year and all, if these reports are accurate, this is a pretty bad deal:

"Under terms of the deal, current LIRR employees will receive a 17 percent wage increase over six-and-a-half years. The union had been seeking six years, and the MTA seven. To pay for the additional salary expenses, all employees will for the first time contribute to their health insurance, the governor said. New employees will have a different wage progression and retirement contributions. The agreement doesn’t include fare increases, Cuomo said."

If what Cuomo said is what's actually in the deal, then the union leadership conceded on health care contributions and they ate their young on wage progression and retirement contributions.

Those concessions sure do diminish the 17% wage increase over 6.5 years.

I've written this over and over, but I'm going to do so once again:

Making that first-time concession on health care contributions is ALWAYS a loss.

Once you open the door to ANY contributions to health care, you hit the slippery slope of concessions on health care/increased payments from employees EVERY time the contract comes up for re-negotiation.

They couldn't do better than this in an election year with a strike deadline looming?

What Are The Chances Of An LIRR Strike Happening?

Given what happened to Mario Cuomo over an LIRR strike in 1994, the chances that Andrew Cuomo let's this one happen this year are pretty small.

My sense is, the governor will jettison into the negotiations and force a settlement before the strike starts.

What say you out there?

Does the strike go off?

Or does Cuomo jettison in as "savior"?

And if you think Cuomo does jettison in and force a solution, which side do you think comes out the "winner"?

Cuomo Is Full Of Shit

On Monday, Sheriff Andy Cuomo said this about the looming possibility of an LIRR strike because the MTA and the LIRR unions can't come to a contract agreement:

“It’s actually Congress that can end a strike and impose a settlement one way or the other,” he said. “So right now it seems that Congress is pivotal to what happens here, and from what I read in the newspapers it’s going to depend on what Congress intends to do….”

Cuomo added that “Congress can order a settlement, Congress can order mediation, Congress can order arbitration, Congress can do almost whatever they want, because they are in control of the resolution of the strike.”

Here was Cuomo today:

Cuomo thanks NY members of Congress "for making it abundantly clear" Congress won't avert LIRR strike, as per "false belief" by unions.
— Liz Benjamin (@CTLizB) July 9, 2014

False belief put forward by the unions that Congress could help avert the LIRR strike?

The guy who put forward the false belief that Congress could help avert the LIRR strike was Sheriff Andy Cuomo himself.

Stop blaming the unions, Sheriff Andy.

You were the guy who pushed that meme.

MTA Looks To Get Congress Involved In MTA/LIRR Unions Dispute

From the NY Post:

The MTA’s negotiations with unions representing LIRR workers broke down Tuesday afternoon, 12 days before hundreds of thousands of Long Islanders would be left stranded by a strike.

With the walkout looming, MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast penned a letter to US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner asking them to say what role Congress would play if 5,400 workers walk off the job on July 20.

And from Newsday:

LIRR union officials said they were willing to continue talking Tuesday with Metropolitan Transportation Authority negotiators before the National Mediation Board until a deal was made. However, after meeting less than four hours in Manhattan, MTA negotiators said it became clear a settlement could not be reached.

"Nothing is going to happen at the table here clearly, based on what happened today, and that's why we're going to Congress," MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg said after the talks.

You can see the strategy from the MTA and Governor Cuomo here - try and have Congress force an end to any job action by the LIRR unions, thus taking away a key weapon in the LIRR unions arsenal.

So far, Congress doesn't sound like its willing to act:

Before the negotiation, Prendergast began making plans to go to Washington, D.C., to meet with congressional members and "seek clarification on what role Congress intends to play in the event" of a July 20 strike, according to a letter he sent to federal lawmakers.

The letter was addressed to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

An aide to McConnell said yesterday that he saw the letter but did not know of any request for a meeting from Prendergast. Reid's office had no comment, and House leaders could not be reached for comment.

...

Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) Tuesday encouraged the MTA to keep talking to the unions, not federal lawmakers.

"These guys should be spending more time at the table than trying to position themselves as far as Congress is concerned," said King, who heard from Prendergast Monday about arranging a meeting.
King, who will host the MTA chairman Wednesday along with Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Manhattan), said he and other members of New York's delegation won't likely tell both sides what they intend to do or give them "an out" from negotiating a settlement.

Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) agreed that depending on congressional action is the wrong course, "considering that there's no promise that the House Republican Majority will take up the issue at all."

Cuomo tried to wash his hands of the matter earlier in the week, claiming this was a federal matter for Congress to deal with.

Cuomo's simply trying to displace responsibility here so that he doesn't have to own a strike if it happens - especially since a strike would come a few months before Election Day and might leave him with some political damage.

But Congress, at least so far, doesn't sound like they're going to help Sheriff Andy or the MTA out.

Cuomo Says He Won't Intervene In LIRR Strike

You know it's an election year and Governor Cuomo needs union support when you hear him make statements like this:

Gov. Cuomo isn't planning to intervene to stop a strike on the Long Island Rail Road. That's a job for Congress, he said.

Cuomo said the labor strife at the LIRR is different from other state union disputes because it is covered by federal transportation law.

“The LIRR is a little different, because the way the law is written it is actually Congress that can end a strike and impose a settlement, one way or the other,” Cuomo told reporters in Manhattan. “So right now, it seems that Congress is pivotal to what happens and from what I read in the newspapers it is going to depend on what Congress intends to do.”

Cuomo’s comments came after a group of state senators from Long Island called on the governor to intervene in the negotiations and prevent a strike.

Any other time and Cuomo would be talking tough against the union and the workers.

But things are a little dicey for Sheriff Andy these days.

There's a likely challenger in the Democratic Primary looking to take him on from the left, bad feelings remain for some union rank-and-file after union leaders forced a Working Families Party endorsement of the anti-union Cuomo, and he faces a capable GOP opponent in Rob Astorino who, while he can't seem to raise much money or garner much poll support, still gives Cuomo a challenge this time around (unlike in 2010 when he had Crazy Carl Paladino up against him.)

Cuomo doesn't want to upset any apple carts by taking a public stance in this labor negotiation.

Still, this is a story to keep an eye on as we get closer to the strike deadline.

Cuomo definitely does not want an LIRR strike a few months before Election Day and I am sure there are some things going on behind the scenes so that Sheriff Andy gets the outcome he wants in this battle - no strike.

LIRR Unions Do Not Take Kindly To Newest MTA Offer, Negotiation Strategy

From the Daily News:

The MTA’s decision to publicize its newest contract offer to LIRR workers — who are threatening a strike next month — has union leaders considering whether to ditch a new round of negotiations set for Friday.

Anthony Simon, a spokesman for a coalition of Long Island Rail Road unions, which can legally strike as early as July 20, faulted the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for releasing to the media details of its proposal before the planned talks.

“Instead of sitting down with the only people who can make a deal, the MTA chose the route of cheap political grandstanding,” Simon said. “It’s painfully clear the MTA is not serious about negotiating a settlement.”

The MTA’s offer — 17% in raises over seven years — was publicized Tuesday, and represented an improvement over the previous proposal of 11% in pay increases over six years plus work-rule changes.

In earlier negotiations, the MTA had asked the unions, which have been without a contract since 2010, to accept a pay freeze unless the cost of raises was covered completely by work-rule changes. “We’ve moved considerably,” MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast said after the authority’s board held its monthly meeting Wednesday.

...

The labor impasse persists despite two separate rounds of independent mediation from panels selected by the White House. Both panels recommended 17% in raises over six years.

...

The MTA’s proposal would eventually lead to savings, because it would require new hires to contribute more of their earnings for health care and pensions than current employees do.

Something to keep an eye on for three reasons:

1. The LIRR unions can legally strike

2. Governor Cuomo is not going to want a strike in July, a little over three and a half months before his re-election bid

3. Therefore the LIRR unions have considerable leverage in this fight, especially since both independent mediation panels that weighed in on the impasse recommended substantially higher raises than the MTA is offering

Pete Donahue: LIRR Unions Ready To Strike

Pete Donahue's Daily News column in full:

Hey, Gov, when would you like a Long Island Rail Road strike? In the spring or summer? How about the fall when voters are going to the polls?

Unless Cuomo’s MTA demonstrates more flexibility and urgency in its dealings with a coalition of LIRR unions, and gets off its high horse a little bit, railroad commuters will endure the first strike since the governor's father was in office. There may be a difference of opinion on this, but it doesn't appear to me that union leaders are bluffing. They say they are prepared and ready to go. I believe them.

This strike, meanwhile, could get ugly — fast — when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority tries to force its bus drivers, who are represented by TWU Local 100, to pick up stranded commuters.

“We’re not doing any scab work,” J.P. Patafio, a Local 100 vice president, said.

All but one of the MTA's approximately 60 unions are working without contracts, and have been for years. That includes the still-militant Local 100 and seven LIRR unions that have banded together for contract negotiations.

After more than three years of failing to negotiate a deal, transit and LIRR union officials made their case before a neutral panel of federal mediators late last year. There were hearings that focused on MTA finances, the wages of workers at other railroads, the cost of living in the New York City area and other pertinent issues.

It appeared the dispute was at the end of the line.

But when the neutral mediators recommended modest raises — concluding the MTA could afford them without raising fares even higher than planned — transit officials essentially stomped their feet like a little kid and screamed, 'No.'

The arbitrators handed up their proposal on Dec. 21. Days later, Joel Parker, a top LIRR union official, called the MTA and asked for a meeting to resume last-ditch talks. The MTA's labor relations director said she'd get back to him. Six weeks have gone by and the MTA still hasn't called back to set up a meeting, Parker said Friday.

The law allows the LRR to legally strike after an exhaustive process that culminates with federal approval to walk, which could come as early as March.

Transit officials want to freeze workers’ pay for three years unless the unions agree to pay for them through increased productivity and reduced benefits. Not 10% or 50% or 75%. Workers have to pay for 100% of any raises, transit officials insist.

Once again, we're led to believe that the workers are the biggest problem and not the big shots running the place. The MTA stuck to this line last week even after the announcement that the East Side Access project would cost more and take longer than originally planned. About $6.5 billion more and 14 years longer. This was at least the fourth time in a decade the MTA has inflated the final price and pushed back the completion date.

Flip through the roster of audits and investigations by the MTA inspector general's office and you'll find plenty of examples of lax management resulting in excessive overtime, workers sitting idle for entire shifts and contractors that did shoddy work for one MTA division getting hired by another MTA division.

Undoubtedly, there are work rules that should be changed, but the MTA can do a much better job managing with the rules already in place. 

The MTA is handling negotiations like this because they know Governor Cuomo is backing them up.

Screw the unionized workers, make them pay for 100% of their "raises" (in which case, it wouldn't be a raise, would it?) - that's Cuomo's line with the unions.

It will be interesting to see what happens if the LIRR unions are granted the right to strike.

Given that the MTA just stopped negotiating, that could very well happen.

Then the LIRR unions can pick the most damaging time to strike for Andrew Cuomo - like right around Election Day - and get the news out there that the reason workers are striking is because the MTA refuses to agree to what the federal panel of mediators came down with last year and the governor is backing the MTA up with this intransigence.

It would be great if none of this came to pass and everything got resolved - but given the circumstances in this dispute, that is starting to look less and less likely.