New York City Transit Authority - Strikes

Strikes

Employees of the New York City Transit Authority assigned to the New York City Subway and in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx are members of the Transport Workers Union of America Local 100, with Queens and Staten Island bus personnel represented by various Amalgamated Transit Union locals.

On New Year's Day, in 1966, a 12-day strike was started with the aid of Michael J. "Mike" Quill. This strike started after the union member's contracts had expired, and with large economic demands from the union. After the 1966 New York City transit strike, the Taylor Law was passed making public employee strikes illegal in the state of New York.

Despite the Taylor Law, there was still an 11-day strike in 1980. 34,000 union members struck in order to call for increased wages.

On December 20, 2005, another strike occurred. Workers walked off at 3 a.m. and the NYCTA stopped operating. Later that day, State Supreme Court Justice Theodore Jones warned the transit union that there would be a fine of $1 million for each day the TA is shut down. Also for each day the workers missed during the strike they would be fined two days pay. Ultimately, the Judge fined the union $2.5 million, charged employees two days' wages for every day they were out on strike, and imposed individual fines on the union’s officers. Most significantly, the courts indefinitely suspended the Union’s dues checkoff and refused to restore it for nearly 18 months.

At 2:35 p.m. on December 22, TWU Local 100 had told members to report to work immediately, after reaching a tentative agreement with management on the terms of a contract. By late afternoon, the strike was over and bus service resumed in the evening and subway service in the morning of the December 23. The TWU membership rejected the proposed contract by 7 votes. After a second vote by the union, the contract was approved by the union membership, but the MTA Board of Directors, sitting as the Transit Authority board, then repudiated the contract proposal they had agreed to earlier. The original contract agreed to by Local 100 and the Transit Authority as a result of the strike was ultimately imposed on both parties by an arbitrator.

More than four months after the strike ended, the courts imposed a brief jail term on Local 100 President Toussaint for his role in the strike.

In 2008–2009, MTA management once again refused to sign off on an agreement with Local 100 for a successor to the collective bargaining agreement, which expired early in 2009. This time, the Union chose to pursue the arbitration process provided by the Taylor Law rather than strike in support of its demands. On August 11, 2009, after months of hearings and dozens of witnesses, the state arbitration panel issued its award. However, the MTA refused to comply with the award, forcing the Union to go to court to seek to enforce it. On December 11, 2009, State Supreme Court Justice Peter Sherwood issued a decision upholding the arbitration award in all respects. The MTA has not indicated whether it will appeal this decision.