Two years after a controversial contract arbitration, Mayor Bloomberg, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 are at it again. In 2007, TWU Local 100 was granted an arbitration award totaling an 11.3% raise over 3 years. Union president Roger Toussaint says Mayor Bloomberg personally told him that he supported the raises. Bloomberg has maintained, however, that he would never support raises that the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) couldn't afford. Meanwhile, the Mayor's appointees to the MTA advisory board are reportedly urging co-workers to support an appeal of the arbitration award in 2010, its last year. The mayor approved a number of big raises in 2007, but as city worker negotiations loom, and the budget deficit grows, it seems he finds himself forced to backpedal a bit.
See "Despite his words, Bloomberg backed transit workers' raises, union leader says", Michael M. Grynbaum & Michael Barbaro, The New York Times, August 20, 2009