The Metro Board of Directors approved five-year contracts Thursday for all five of its transit labor unions.
“This is a historic day for Metro, our unions and the people of Los Angeles County,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, chair of the Metro board. “These agreements are the result of collaboration and leadership from both Metro and our workers, and they reflect our shared commitment to serving the people of our region.”
Contracts were finalized with the:
— Sheet, Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Union, representing 4,897 bus and rail operators;
— Amalgamated Transit Union, representing 2,465 mechanics and service attendants;
— Transportation Communications Union, representing 896 telephone information operators, clerks and other workers;
— American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, representing 785 bus and rail transportation and maintenance supervisors; and
— Teamsters Union, representing 159 Metro transit security officers.
We value our employees and the important work they do, sometimes under very difficult circumstances,” Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington said. “We want them to have living-wage jobs with competitive salaries and good benefits. And we are pleased we have been able to achieve labor contracts that are sustainable and provide real benefits, that includes Career Pathways that outline opportunities for union employees to advance in their careers and the transportation industry.”
They are the first five-year contracts in Metro’s history, and also mark the first time all five unions ratified contracts simultaneously before the expiration of the existing contracts, according to the transit agency.
The new contracts provide average annual salary adjustments of 4.2 percent compounded annually over the life of the contracts, and will cost an estimated $36.4 million, or 0.7 percent of Metro’s total $6.1 billion budget for the current fiscal year, according to the agency.
–City News Service