Metro-North Railroad faces possible strike in August

Caren Halbfinger
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: January 26, 2007)


Metro-North Railroad riders might want to plan their vacations for August, when the railroad could be hit with a strike if a coalition of railroad unions doesn't reach an agreement with management before then.

The latest step came yesterday in the 4-year-old labor dispute for eight unions that represent 3,500 workers, or 70 percent of the unionized labor force, when a Presidential Emergency Board report was released.

In the report, written Jan. 19, the three-member board recommended that both sides agree to settlement terms established in June, with one exception that would sweeten the deal for the unions. The board recommended current employees contribute nothing toward their health-care costs, while new hires be asked to pay 1.56 percent of their first 40 hours of weekly gross wages. The railroad had wanted all employees to contribute 1.5 percent of gross wages.

Both the railroad and the union coalition are expected to submit written comments about the recommendations and speak before the National Mediation Board at a public hearing in Washington.

"We have been in negotiations and we continue to be in negotiations in an attempt to reach a settlement," said Gary Dellaverson, chief negotiator for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. "It's in our interest, our customers' interest and in the interest of the coalition. Thus far, we have not been successful. … There's a place where we believe their recommendations deviate from the pattern … but that's where the negotiations will lie. I remain optimistic."

The unions have been working without a new contract since the end of 2003 and were released from mediation by the National Mediation Board on Nov. 7. The Presidential Emergency Board was appointed a month later, Dec. 7, to help resolve the labor dispute, and a cooling-off period is under way.

Under the Federal Railway Labor Act, board recommendations are nonbinding, and the clock on these measures runs out 240 days after the first board was appointed. This sets an Aug. 4 deadline for a new labor contract. At that time, the railroad could impose a new set of terms on these employees, and they, in turn, could strike.

"That would be horrible," said Svati Shashank, 37, an attorney from Scarsdale who was interviewed by phone as she rode an M7 train home yesterday. She praised railroad workers for providing the same quality service despite their labor dispute.

"I'd like to see them get a bit of a raise, and I'd like to see it worked out."

Railroad conductors and engineers are covered by a separate union and have a current contract, in effect since Jan. 14, 2004. The coalition includes workers from a dozen crafts, including sheet metal workers, firemen and oilers, machinists, electrical workers, Teamsters, power department workers and some foremen and supervisors.

"I'm an electrician," said Richard Ranallo, 39, of Palisades, "and Long Island Rail Road electricians make $6 an hour more with the same experience and years of service for the same exact job.

"We want parity. … It's not like we're trying to disrupt service. We just want people to know what's going on. With the conditions that we work in these tunnels and out in the field, they should compensate us for it. If they don't budge on anything, we're gonna strike."

Ranallo said his base pay is about $62,000 but he earns $100,000 with overtime and night differential for working the midnight shift, being on call around the clock and working an occasional double shift, as he did yesterday.

The unions want parity with Long Island Rail Road workers, who have had historically higher pay and some better benefits for the same jobs. Instead, the unions were offered terms that would make them fall farther behind.

Coalition members want a cap on their contribution to health care and a better pay package. Instead, the pay package offered was patterned on the one worked out by Transport Workers Union Local 100, and coalition members didn't bring it to their members for a vote. Metro-North offered a $1,000 lump sum payment for 2003; 3 percent wage increases Jan. 1, 2004, 2005, and 2006; 4 percent Jan. 1, 2007; and, 3.5 percent Jan. 1, 2008