MTA's largest union starts contract negotiations

"We mean business." [FORWARD TO A FRIEND]( [VIEW IN BROWSER]( [DONATE]( [WNYC Politics Brief] 'We mean business': MTA's largest union starts contract negotiations [an MTA conductor sticks their head out the window of a train]( Gary Hershorn/Getty Images [Contract negotiations kicked off Monday]( between the MTA and Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents a majority of the agency’s workforce. Local 100 President Richard Davis said the union’s demands include wage increases that align with inflation, as well as improved health care and mental health benefits. The union also wants the MTA to support state legislation that would lift a cap on overtime pay for some transit workers. The start of negotiations come as lawmakers in Albany have yet to finalize a state budget. Transit officials said the state must allocate an additional $600 million to the MTA this year for it to be able to balance its books. The MTA has repeatedly warned that if Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Legislature fail to fill the budget gap this year — and an expected $1.2 billion deficit next year — service and job cuts will be necessary. Hochul earlier this year proposed to fill the gap through an increase to the payroll mobility tax, which pulls from the payrolls of employers in New York City, Long Island and parts of the Hudson Valley. She also called for the city to kick in an extra $500 million a year for the MTA, [an idea Mayor Eric Adams has publicly opposed](. The MTA in December approved its budget for 2023, which included a 2% pay increase for workers. If the pay increase negotiated with Local 100 ends up being higher, "this means more money will be needed from Albany," said Rachael Fauss, a senior analyst at the good government group Reinvent Albany. "Both the contract negotiations and the timing of the state budget point to the MTA's budget being as much a political document as a spending or revenue plan," Fauss said. — [Reporting by Stephen Nessen]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🚆 --------------------------------------------------------------- Here's what else is happening Police said a man who refused to pay for a ride on a B82 bus in Brooklyn Tuesday morning then tried to shoot several MTA employees standing nearby. MTA Chair Janno Lieber said the suspect was asked to leave by the MTA's fare enforcement team, known as the "Eagle Team," after refusing to pay his fare. ([Gothamist]( Mayor Eric Adams said he supports a pilot program to run free bus service in New York City. The pilot, which is sponsored by Assemblyman Zohran Kwame Mamdani, would study the effects of running free bus service on 10 routes, including a commercial corridor and a line through a low-income neighborhood in each of the five boroughs. ([The New York Times]( Buying a bogus temporary paper license plate on Craigslist seems remarkably easy. After Streetsblog published a three-part investigation into illegal "ghost tags," one journalist returned to Craigslist, typed in "temporary tag New Jersey," and soon found himself standing on a corner in Brooklyn where a guy on a scooter hand-delivered a fake paper license plate. ([Streetsblog]( Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said last week that there's still no timeline for when the federal government will sign off on congestion pricing. The plan to toll drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street is still waiting for a thumbs up from the Federal Highway Administration. ([AM New York]( The relatively modest plan to rip out the Madison Square Garden Theater to bring more natural light into Penn Station might be the compromise that sticks. Removing the 5,000-seat theater, which sits below the main arena but on top of the train station, has emerged as a Penn Station renovation proposal that could actually become a reality. ([Curbed]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🚆 --------------------------------------------------------------- And Finally: Not impressed by the free entertainment [a video of a dog on the subway]( [@Lebedos86/Twitter]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🚆 --------------------------------------------------------------- Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential election coverage and more. [DONATE]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [WNYC]( [WQXR]( [NJPR]( [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013 All rights reserved. [Terms of Use.]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your [preferences]( or [unsubscribe]( from this list