Transport Workers Union Local 100 seeks right to strike with labor deal set to expire in May
NEW YORK -- Transit workers are looking for the right to strike, and, if passed, newly introduced legislation would make it so they legally could.
The Transport Workers Union Local 100's labor deal with the MTA is set to expire in May.
The state's Taylor Law makes it illegal for them to strike. When union workers walked off the job in 2005, they received a $2.5 million fine and the union leader was jailed.
Rail workers, though, operate under the Federal Railway Labor Act, allowing them to strike.
State Sen. Jessica Ramos is one of two Democrats from Queens who introduced the legislation.
"In order to amend the Taylor Law and allow MTA workers to go on strike when negotiations fail. It's a right that is given to all the other commuter rail lines in the state. And so really, what we're looking for here is equity," Ramos said.
"The irony of all this is that if we had the right to strike, there would never be a strike in New York City because these bosses would be forced to bargain in good faith, if we had the legitimate threat of a strike," TWU International President John Samuelsen said.
The MTA says it has no comment. We have not heard back from the city.