Metro has agreed to pay one of its five unions a lump sum of 2 percent of workers’ wages in the new fiscal year, despite having pledged that its employees would not receive increases this year.
The transit agency and Local 639 International Brotherhood of Teamsters Law Enforcement Division agreed on the contract in recent weeks, with Metro’s board signing off on it last week.
Under the terms, an estimated 115 special police officers, who guard Metro facilities such as bus garages and the agency headquarters, will receive retroactive wage increases of 2.5 percent each for the past two years. Then, on Oct. 1, they will receive a 2 percent lump sum. The three-year contract had been under negotiation since the last one expired in September 2010.
The guards also can carry over more comp time each year, according to the union. Health care and retirement benefits are unchanged.
The move will cost Metro an estimated $797,621, according to the agency.
For comparison, a local Service Employees International Union representing 1,700 private security guards around the region won 3 percent annual increases, but those workers make less, at an average of $13.54 per hour.
The Metro guards make between $15.80 and $22.50 per hour, before overtime, said Local 639 business agent Bill Davis. He said he is pleased with the contract outcome, as the officers have seen higher food and fuel bills. “Certainly no one is getting rich being a special police officer,” Davis said. “We are trying to keep our officers in the middle class.”
The contract was approved as Metro has three other contract fights under way. The contract of its largest union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, expired on Saturday but new terms remain unresolved.
The agency is suing its unionized office workers over a decision an arbitration panel made. And it is negotiating a new contract with its Transit Police union. A fifth contract for some Teamster-represented bus drivers and mechanics expires in September, according to Metro.
But Metro’s board and officials have publicly stated a firm stance against the unions, saying workers wouldn’t see any wage increases this fiscal year. Metro officials also have said they are seeking concessions on pension plans and workers’ hours.
However, the agency lost the most recent arbitration fight, then a lengthy court battle with Local 689 last summer over 3 percent annual wage increases.
“The board, they are posturing at times, but the reality is that after the very lengthy arbitration process with 689 that cost more than a million dollars, you have to wonder if it was worth it,” Davis said.
