A majority of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority's unionized workers, including mechanics and bus drivers, have been working without a new contract since 2009. They hoped their presence at Thursday's NFTA board meeting would break a stalemate. But the union and management remain apart not only on terms but also on the opinion of whether there's even an offer on the table.
Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1342, which represents about 1,100 of the NFTA's estimated 1,500 employees, held an informational picket outside the downtown bus station and NFTA headquarters prior to Thursday's monthly board meeting.
Local 1342 president and business agent Vincent Crehan said wages was their biggest sticking point. He says newly hired bus drivers, for example, earn $12.90 per hour but have the responsibility of handling a 40-foot vehicle with up to 50 lives.
"We're very skilled," Crehan said. "The mechanics are very skilled, our clerical, and we deserve a lot more money than that."
Management, meanwhile, suggests health care costs are the top issue.
"Currently they do not contribute to health care," said NFTA executive director Kimberley Minkel. "The cost of health care continues to go up, and we want a contribution."
Minkel would not disclose the amount they're asking union members to contribute. She also pointed out that the NFTA has negotiated 16 new contracts among 12 other unions representing their workforce since the ATU's pact expired.
There is also some disagreement as to whether there's even a deal on the table. Crehan told reporters prior to the board meeting that management pulled their last offer in February 2015 when the union did not immediately approve it.
"We were going to consider letting the membership speak, and having them decide," Crehan said. "But to honest with you, with the six years with no rate increase proposition of the company, (it's) totally unfair and ridiculous."
Other union members say they haven't had a raise since before their last contract expired.
Minkel, meanwhile, says the union's claim is untrue.
"That offer still remains on the table," she said. "They turned it down and they have yet to counter."
No new talks were scheduled, Minkel said.
