Averts Possible Strike
Teamsters/Metro North Deal

By ARI PAUL

Metro-North wanted flexibility in scheduling. Teamsters Local 808 wanted pay parity. And both sides got enough of what they wanted, as their respective leaders confirmed that there would be no strike this summer at a press conference June 12.

The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang TRAINS TO KEEP MOVING: Chris Silvera, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 808, announced a deal with Metro-North ending the possibility of a strike at a press conference at Grand Central Station on June 12. Looking on is Elliot Sander, the CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Elliot G. Sander, the CEO and Executive Director of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Chris Silvera, the secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 808, announced a contract settlement, without disclosing specific terms, on the northeast balcony in Grand Central Station. The 601 Track Workers and Bridge and Building Workers in the bargaining unit will vote to ratify the terms on June 22. It will then be presented to the MTA's Executive Board on July 24.

"We're optimistic that it will go well," Mr. Sander said.

The last contract expired on Dec. 31, 2002. Ten unions in the commuter railroad ratified new contracts in late May. The Teamsters did not, and as a result Metro-North requested a Presidential Emergency Board in accordance with the Railway Labor Act, triggering what Mr. Sander called a "cooling-off period" that was set to expire on July 15. After that, the union would have had the right to strike because it is not governed by the state's Taylor Law.

'Issues Addressed'

The main sticking point for Local 808 was parity. For too long, Mr. Silvera has said, his members' counterparts at the Long Island Railroad were paid on average 13 percent more. He assured reporters that this contract contained significant wage increases.

"All of our issues have been addressed," Mr. Silvera said.

Both officials said that the deal resolved the issue of lay-offs in the winter, which the union has protested.

The contract, if ratified and approved by the MTA board, would expire in 2010.

Mr. Silvera later told this newspaper that Mr. Sander paved the way for a resolution and that the contract would be of help to Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents NYC Transit workers, when its contract expires in mid-January of 2009.

Mr. Silvera is confident that his members will ratify the contract. The issue of parity is settled and management is happy, he said, with its ability to fill shifts outside of the 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. timeframe.

"They have the right to expand night work," he said of the contract. "They don't have carte blanche, but they have more flexibility."