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Pittsburgh Transit Union Reaches New Deal With City

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Ted Goodman Contributor
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Drivers and mechanics who serve hundreds of thousands of Pittsburgh-area residents officially ratified contract after months of negotiations and a previous proposal rejection.

The Port Authority of Allegheny County, which serves the greater-Pittsburgh area, ratified the new contract with the largest union representing its employees Tuesday.

Ratification comes after Local 85 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents about 2,200 port authority drivers and mechanics, voted 1,130 to 229 in favor of the tentative contract.

The new deal includes an 11.25 percent wage increase that will take place over four years, according to the Post-Gazette. Workers will receive a 2.75 percent raise in the first three years and a 3 percent bump in the fourth year.

The Pittsburgh transit system is the 26th largest in the nation, serving just over 200,000 commuters each day. While buses make up a majority of the system, light rail connects the downtown area with points of interests such as Heinz Field.

A 26-day strike in 1992 was ended by a judge, who ordered the workers to return to work, citing the need for blue-collar workers and health patients to have immediate access to public transportation.

The same proposal was rejected by union members in September, but union leaders said members did not have enough information about the details of the contract at the time. “We had more time to go out to people and explain it,” Steve Palonis, president of Local 85, said.

After the September rejection, the union asked that the transit authority continue negotiations with a state labor relations board-appointed arbitrator. Unlike across-state colleagues in the city of brotherly love, Pittsburgh transit workers did not threaten to strike this time around. (RELATED: Transit Strike Is Wreaking Havoc On Commuters In Philadelphia)

A state official who reviewed the 2012 deal between the two sides called the deal, “extremely fair and reasonable.”

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Tags : pittsburgh
Ted Goodman