Metro must pay $82 million in wage increases to thousands of workers, arbitration panel says

[Sherman A1]

An arbitration board has said Metro must provide $82 million in wage increases to thousands of workers by summer 2020 — an amount that is less than what leaders of the agency’s largest union had sought, but still a financial hit for the cash-strapped agency.

Members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 have been working without a contract since July 2016, when their previous collective bargaining agreement expired. The two sides were unable to reach an agreement after lengthy and rancorous negotiations, so the issue was sent to a three-member arbitration board.

The panel’s decision, announced Wednesday by Metro, requires that the transit agency provide an average annual wage increase of 1.6 percent for workers over a four-year period ending in July 2020. The award is effective retroactively to July 1, 2016.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/arbitration-panel-says-metro-must-pay-82-million-in-wage-increases-to-thousands-of-workers/2018/08/15/55502e5e-a0a2-11e8-8e87-c869fe70a721_story.html?utm_term=.8bc9b07ae7a0

[IronLionZion]

1. Lots of pro-transit pro-union liberals would like to see Metro service improve

and have stable financial footing with good workers who are happy with their pay and benefits.

I get to listen to lots of complaints from my coworkers every day. Many of them are teleworking due to the construction and single tracking.