Pittsburgh Regional Transit workers approve new four-year contract

Union workers at Pittsburgh Regional Transit will get raises of 12.75% over the next four years, plus bonuses of up to $4,000 if they worked through the COVID-19 pandemic, under a four-year contract approved Sunday.

Attorney Joseph Pass, who represented Local 85 of the Amalgamated Transit Union during negotiations, said the contract provides raises of 4%, 3%, 3% and 2.75%. Members approved the new deal by comfortable margins, Mr. Pass said, adding he didn’t have the exact vote totals.

Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s board is scheduled to vote Thursday on the new contract. PRT spokesman Adam Brandolph declined to comment on the contract until the board votes on it. 

The contract will also grant workers a $1-an-hour bonus for every hour they worked between March 2020 and June 2021 as pandemic hazard pay. The bonus is capped at $4,000 per employee.

“They’re rewarding people who came to work during a difficult time,” Mr. Pass said.

In an effort to improve retention of new employees, the new contract also will grant up to five sick days during the first year of work. The previous contract provided two sick days after one year of service.

The contract also provides Juneteenth as an additional holiday and requires the agency to contribute more to the pension program. It also allows workers to pick job assignments by seniority every four months instead of every three months.

“Overall, we think it’s a pretty good deal,” Mr. Pass said.

The union represents about 2,300 employees in two units, operators, mechanics and maintenance workers in one and a smaller group of front-line supervisors.