NYC★ WORKS
CELEBRATING LABOR IN THE BIG APPLE
MTA AND TRANSIT UNION REACH CONTRACT AGREEMENT
COURIER LIFE, DEC. 13-19, 2019 29
The MTA and transit
workers’ union
have reached a tentative
contract agreement.
MTA Chairman
and CEO Pat Foye and
the Transport Workers
Union Local 100 announced
an agreement
last week after months
of bitter back-and-forth
between the authority
and the union, which
represents roughly
40,000 employees in the
subway and bus system.
“We have reached
a tentative agreement
with TWU Local 100
that’s fair to taxpayers,
our riders and the tens
of thousands of Transit
employees who have
worked hard to improve
subway and bus service
benefi ting eight million
daily customers,”
Foye said in a statement.
“This tentative agreement
continues the forward
momentum of NYC
Transit that has led to a
surge in subway on-time
performance and ridership
increases that refl
ect our customers’ returning
confi dence in
the system.”
Union employees had
been working without a
contract since May.
Both parties in their
announcement were
tight-lipped on details.
TWU Local 100 President
Tony Utano said in
a statement he was confi -
dent that union membership
will ratify the settlement
“in overwhelming
fashion” after a discussion
on the agreement.
The framework for the
deal was reached over
the weekend and fi nalized
after “several days
of intense bargaining,”
Utano went on.
“I wish to thank TWU
members for the incredible
support you provided
to me and the Local 100
leadership throughout
this campaign,” Utano
said. “We were truly
united. We will be reporting
details of the agreement
as soon as the Executive
Board has had an
opportunity to vote on it.”
MAYOR DE BLASIO, CHANCELLOR CARRANZA
RENAME QUEENS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
TO HONOR THE LATE HÉCTOR FIGUEROA
Mayor Bill de Blasio
and Schools Chancellor
Richard
A. Carranza on Dec. 10
announced the re-naming
of PS 398, a Jackson
Heights, Queens elementary
school to be The
Héctor Figueroa School.
The re-naming honors
the late union leader
and 32BJ SEIU President
who passed away earlier
this year.
Open for the fi rst time in the 2019-
20 school year, The Héctor Figueroa
School currently serves 117 Pre-K and
Kindergarten students. The Jackson
Heights neighborhood of Queens
has been home to the Figueroa family
for years, and will grow to serve
476 students in grades Pre-K through
fi fth grade. Principal Erica Ureña-
Thus engaged school community in
this process, which highlighted signifi
cant fi gures from the Jackson
Heights community. Students, teachers,
and families votes and decided
to offi cially rename the school in his
honor.
The 476 seats at PS 398 The Héctor
Figueroa School will help alleviate
overcrowding in District 30 as part
of the more than 2,100 new seats created
in Queens for the 2019-2020 school
year.