October
13,
2003
CONTACT:
Marc Littman
MTA MEDIA RELATIONS
(213) 922-4609/922-2700 www.metro.net/press/pressroom
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MTA
Urges Union Leaders to Back Off from Strike Threat
MTA officials today urged
leaders of the union representing MTA's maintenance workers not to go on
strike and strand hundreds of thousands of public transit users, wreck the
regional economy and clog Los Angeles streets and freeways.
"A strike is not only
unnecessary, but it will do great harm to county bus riders who depend on public
transportation for their livelihoods," MTA Board Chairman Zev Yaroslavsky
said, " Moreover, it will inflict real harm on striking employees and their
families, because the income they lose by striking can never be made up. It
makes no sense to them, to our customers or to our community for our workers to
walk out."
Yaroslavsky noted that
despite facing the worst fiscal crisis in decades, brought on largely by the
state budget meltdown, the MTA has offered pay raises and substantially more
money for health and other benefits to its mechanics and service attendants.
Union leaders, he emphasized, have rejected four contract offers in the past
year without even sharing those with their members.
The biggest issue dividing
MTA negotiators and union leaders is over contributions to health benefits. MTA
deposits $16.8 million annually into a trust fund administered by the
maintenance union which buys medical coverage for 2,000 employees plus retirees.
An independent audit of the trust fund shows the union has wasted millions of
dollars in recent years through duplicative coverage, poor record keeping and
other problems.
Among other issues, the audit
faulted the union for transferring $36,000 a month into union operating funds
but union officials refused to provide documentation for how the money is spent.
The audit also noted that the union has been paying a consultant up to
MTA maintenance employees pay
very little out-of-pocket (no monthly deductions for employees and only $3 for a
spouse and $6 for a family) to support their health plan in contrast to most
public and private employees who typically pay between 19 and 22 percent of the
insurance plan costs.
The maintenance employees'
union health and welfare trust fund is on the verge of bankruptcy despite MTA
giving the union a one time contribution of $3.74 million last fall to shore up
the fund reserves.
"Union leaders basically
ran the trust fund into the ground, and now they want the taxpayers to bail them
out and are threatening a devastating work stoppage to strike if they don't
get their way," said MTA CEO Roger Snoble.
"Instead of holding a club
over the heads of our customers, I urge union leaders to take responsibility to
clean up their health trust fund and return to the bargaining table and don't
walk out," Snoble said, adding that MTA is committed to working out a new
agreement and avoid a disruption in service.
"MTA is not going to
strike. It's our unions that are threatening to walk out and deny service to
our customers who depend on them," Snoble said, adding "MTA's ability to
serve our customers in the long-term is at stake. We can't afford to write our
unions a blank check and still be able to maintain bus, rail and highway
transportation options for the public."
Besides the human toll on
Metro customers, employees and the general public, it is estimated that a
transit strike could cost the local economy $4 million a day in lost wages, sales and
productivity.
In the wake of the strike
threat announcement by union leaders, MTA is urging its customers to make other
transit plans should maintenance workers walk off the job as early as Tuesday.
They can call 1-800-commute for information on service provided by municipal bus
operators or log onto www.ridematch.info
for rideshare options.
MTA-151