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Cites Election Delay
Division in Limbo Local 100 President Roger Toussaint assured the members of the division that all representation would be maintained and that all hearings and meetings would go on as planned in a letter in May. But Mr. Winberry, a Bus Operator based at College Point Depot in Queens, said that there has been total stasis and that the current collective-bargaining process is completely opaque."We don't know who's the negotiator," he said. "We have no idea where things are going." He has various complaints about the division. Workers have not seen a pension increase since the Metropolitan Transportation Authority started acquiring private lines in Queens in 2005, he said, and Bus Operators at his depot earn slightly less than other drivers in the MTA. He added that the pension funds from the old private companies needed to merge with "an MTA defined-benefits plan," and since the takeovers, Bus Operators have had to adjust to stricter rules and a harsher disciplinary environment. On top of that, Mr. Winberry feared that the division's drivers will eventually inherit the obligation to contribute 1.5 percent of their earnings toward health benefits as NYC Transit workers have to do under their contract, even though they earn less. 'Put Out to Dry' "We're being put out to dry," he said. "The MTA won't pay us parity. Our pension is in limbo."When Mr. Winberry was vice president and involved in contract negotiations for Private Lines, Mr. Toussaint handed him a list of nearly two dozen possible concessions to management Mr. Winberry felt were inappropriate, such as a reduction in personal days, the blending of routes, and the reduction of union release time. Mr. Winberry's frustration underscores a general feeling in the division that some Bus Operators are second-class members in the union. At Eastchester Depot in The Bronx, Bus Operators earn $15.91 per hour if they are sitting on the bench waiting for work, while other Bus Operators earn the regular $23.56 per hour. Westchester Division Chairman Pete Denicolo complained that neither he nor a vice chairman, Peter Rosconi, received adequate release time from the union to address workers' issues. "It has been a living hell," Mr. Denicolo said. Ed Watt, the union's secretary-treasurer, and other Local 100 officials have met with MTA officials concerning the Private Lines Division. They have addressed pension and parity issues, but the parties are far from a settlement, a Local 100 spokesman said. Mr. Winberry was a driver with Queens Surface for 24 years until it became a part of the MTA in 2005. When he lost the vice presidential race in December running on Mr. Toussaint's slate, the union offered him a staff position, which he took for a few months. But he grew tired of the political hostility between Mr. Toussaint's regime and the opposition Fresh Start and Rail and Bus slates and returned to driving a bus. Last month, he decided it was time for a change. In the first week of circulating his petition, Mr. Winberry collected more than 800 members' signatures. Union bylaws state there must be an election within 60 days after a vacancy occurs, unless the vacancy happens within the 18-month period prior to a general election. While Mr. Winberry has not stated that he will run for vice president if and when there is an election, he maintained that the most important thing is for the division to gain traction as soon as possible. He said when that happens, he will assist in whatever capacity he can. "We're like an airplane in a holding pattern," he said of the division. "And we're running low on fuel." | |||||
