In an industry expanding to cities throughout the country, and employing thousands, the New York City bikeshare workers won their first contract, organized by the Transport Workers Union Local 100. “We have firmly established ourselves as the bikeshare union...the [country’s] first. We organized the first cities in the bikeshare [network] and now we’ve accomplished the first collective bargaining agreement. It’s a very pivotal moment,” said John Samuelson, Local 100’s President. The new union members won a 10% pay raise with ratification, which would expand to more than 20% over the life of the four-year contract. One of the major victories was 8 weeks of paid parental leave, “almost unheard of,” according to Samuelson. TWU plans to expand the fight to other cities with similar bikeshare programs. Samuelson expressed his hope to expand the effort. “We expect that the 200 workers in New York that are covered by this first contract will lead to thousands and thousands of workers being covered by CBAs around the country within the next decade or so.” Read more here. Photo and reporting courtesy of The Labor Press
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