PA: Port Authority Union Approves New Contract

Dec. 19--Port Authority of Allegheny County's unionized workers have approved a new contract, Steve Palonis, president/business agent for ATU Local 85 told the Tribune-Review Sunday evening.

The Port Authority board will hold a special meeting Tuesday to vote on approval the contract, said Port Authority spokesman Jim Ritchie.

The contract -- between the public transit agency and its roughly 2,200 union bus drivers, mechanics and other workers -- contains no major differences from the September tentative agreement that the union rejected, Palonis said.

This time around, more union members better understood the terms of the contract, Palonis said.

"We didn't have enough time (the first time). We were in a hurry to get it done," Palonis said. "There were no major changes. Information was the key."

The four-year contract includes an 11.25 percent wage increase for workers -- 2.75 percent in the first three years and 3 percent in the fourth year, Palonis said.

The contract passed with about 83 percent of the vote Sunday -- 1,130 voted in favor and 229 against, Palonis said.

The new contract was a product of talks between union and Port Authority leadership that had been ongoing since September, Ritchie said.

Source: Mass Transit Magazine