Local 241 Local 241 reached its first contract settlement with Columbia's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory after almost one year of negotiations. The contract brings new members to the Local. The three-year agreement provides wage increases and bonuses, no cost medical, grievance and discipline procedure, longevity pay, a seniority provision, and overtime distribution policy. Local 212 First Transit, Inc. - Para Transit Drivers in Columbus, Ohio reached a three-year agreement that includes a wage increase and signing bonus, reduced probationary period from 120 to 90 days; more lenient bidding process; more vacation time for senior members; paid funeral leave and jury duty for part time members and increased contributions toward healthcare premiums from the employer.SHOP TWU Find exclusive Union products at our TWU store at shopTWU.com. All merchandise is Union made in the U.S.A.Local 100 is reaching out to enlist community and political support in a tough fight against the New York MTA's heavy-handed transit cutbacks, which already have cost several hundred Local 100 members' jobs in recent months.

Slashing bus and subway service, and reducing the presence of station agents, isn't only about jobs - it's a direct threat to public safety as well as a blow to small business, to low-income working commuters and to the handicapped.

Local President John Samuelsen was joined by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer at a Times Square news conference in mid-July to urge a huge public outcry over plans to close another 89 subway booths and fire 220 agents.

Stringer told the media: "It makes no sense to take away the eyes and ears of the system… The people underground are the people who are going to save us if there is a terror attack." Samuelsen noted that the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee along with law enforcement groups have advised against the personnel cuts, which he called "a crime against New York City transit riders."

Earlier, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) joined local TWU members and allies, including the Amalgamated Transit Union and the community Straphanger's Campaign, at a rally to spotlight a bill that would save jobs and services for New York and other cities faced with transportation cutbacks - the Public Transportation Preservation Act.

The bill, which also is a goal of TWU's nationwide Save Our Ride coalition campaign, would earmark $345 million in emergency aid for New York and "hold off all job and service cuts for the next few years," Schumer said. Overall, the bill calls for $2 billion in assistance to transit systems around the country.

Local 100 also is pressing for help from Albany, where the New York senate recently passed a bill to place a moratorium on job cuts pending a study of the impact on crime and terrorism; the measure now is before the state assembly.