Various ACRE officers including General Chairman Mike Doyle and Tony Bottalico admit they have signed a side bar agreement with Metro-North Labor Relations concerning “ The Defined Benefit Retirement Program for Represented Employees of the Commuter Rails” . Their attitude is if anyone is interested in seeing this sidebar agreement they need to go to the ACRE office to review it. This benefit entitles ACRE union officers being designated as on full or part time release time from Metro-North for union business purposes and employed by Metro-North for at least five years, their split employment shall constitute credited service. They in essence can combine their Metro-North and union salaries to the following maximums: in 2000 a salary cap of $119,945.75; in 2001 a salary cap of $123,544.12; in 2004 a salary cap of $131,067.96; in 2005 a salary cap of $135,000.00; in 2006 a salary cap of $139,050.00 and for 2007 a salary cap of $144,612.00 and every year thereafter the salary cap will increase by the general wage increase negotiated by and between the parties as part of the collective bargaining agreements. That means that ACRE officers can obtain a 60% pension payout on $144,612.00 for 2007 (that would equal $ 86,767.20 ). It is a no wonder that both ACRE and the M-N Coalition of Union officers left this out of their contract ratification packages. One has to wonder whose interests these “so-called union officers” were interested in while negotiating the “unity deal” or “global deal”? Why didn't these officers include this sidebar agreement with the contract ratification packages that were mailed out to their respective memberships? The ACRE Constitution clearly states in the Members Bill of Rights that each member of the Association of Commuter Rail Employees shall have the right to: a copy of the contract and all letters of understanding covering the member and to vote by secret ballot in all elections and binding agreements with management . Once again ACRE officer blatantly violate the ACRE Constitution and ACRE member rights. These union offices should have named this contract agreement as the “sell-out” or “golden parachute” deal.

ACRE officers also have stated and put into print that the only way changes can be made to our MTA Pension Plan is through an act of the New York State Legislature. “There are laws in place that would greatly reduce the ability of anyone to take away your pension rights. Furthermore, there is no chance that would ever happen because that would require an act of the New York State Legislature.” The MTA Pension Plan was created and put into place on Metro-North Railroad through contract negotiations between the various unions and MTA Metro-North Labor Relations. This MTA Pension Plan was not created by an act of the New York State Legislature. Furthermore, the various pensions on the LIRR were also created and changed through contract negotiations, not by the New York State Legislature. ACRE officers have even stated that the only approvals needed for the last contract ratification and the current contract ratification was the approval of the ACRE membership and the MTA Board. Neither ACRE officers nor the MTA have ever mentioned needing any approvals from the New York State Legislature. The New York State Legislature has never voted upon nor approved this MTA Pension Plan or any changes that have been negotiated and made to it in its very short lived time frame of existence. Most changes negotiated to the pension plans on the LIRR have taken generations to occur, not a few short lived years.