We tried to bargain with the MTA. We negotiated well past our contract deadline because we wanted to get a deal done, and we still do.
What the MTA has decided to do is pour poison on the deal in order to provide ammunition to the opposition, in hopes of having the contract voted down. It seems as if a decision was made by the state to sink the contract.
The contract they offered would leave the next generation of transit workers behind, and we will not accept that. We have voted to begin a series of strikes that will start with private bus lines and then spread to MTA properties.
Despite the fact that there is limited time left, ... we still expect that our contract will be resolved well before midnight tonight.
This contract between the MTA and the Transport Workers Union should have been a no-brainer. Sadly that has not been the case.
They're not going to force a lousy contract down our throats. We have told them from the beginning that this contract will be negotiated by bargaining in good faith and not by threats and not by intimidation.