Politico: "Access-a-Ride Dispatchers Threaten to Strike"

NOVEMBER 12 -- In a story that went up on the web early this morning, Politico reported extensively on the two-year fight waged by TWU Local 100 and the workers we represent at the Access-a-Ride call center on Northern Boulevard for fair wages and fair treatment. The story quotes President John Samuelsen as saying, "We haven't set a date [for the strike], but it's coming." Ever since Global Contact Services of Salisbury, NC won the low bid for the Access-a-Ride call center work in 2013 and immediately cut wages by 20% across the board, Call Agents represented by the Union have had grievances that the company has ignored. Adding to the pain of the wage cuts, GCS handed down a draconian disciplinary program, even penalizing handicapped workers for lateness when they were due to get picked up by an Access-a-Ride van that was delayed. Since the union won a representation election at GCS last year, the company has steadfastly refused to bargain, bringing in high-priced lawyers to repeatedly stonewall workers' demands for a contract. Top in the union's demands is a wage of $15 an hour, now on the table statewide as part of Governor Cuomo's decision to better compensate the NYS workforce. While GCS does not technically fall under that umbrella, we are hopeful that our workers -- who are now paid from $9 to $11 an hour -- will see light at the end of the tunnel. Just last month, the MTA Board of Directors, stung by Local 100 members' testimony about appalling conditions at the call center and disregard of workers' rights, called for an MTA investigation into company practices which include a thousand firings since they took over the call center. Read the Politico article here.