Unity Statement | Stronger Together Slate Coalition

Our Committed Basis of Unity for negotiating contracts moving forward:

• We firmly oppose “Generational Theft” bargaining, where contracts are settled at the expense of both our new and retired generations.
• We advocate for the elimination of divisive wage and pension tiers.
• We reject concessionary bargaining tactics that pit one title or department against another, aiming instead for complete solidarity among our 80+ titles in 7 Divisions.
• We demand the choice of Traditional Federal MEDICARE NOW.
• We oppose erosion of personal time through “employee availability” schemes that diminish our rights to use our OTO or sick time. Retention becomes a top contract priority, as skilled titles are being lost, and few are applying. We aim to raise starting pay, reduce the 6-year wait to top pay, and secure significant longevity increases. Discrepancies with Metro North (MTA) highlight the urgency, as they offer a $5,000 sign-up incentive while we wait 25 years for a $500 bonus. All voting (ratification votes and union elections) to be conducted via Online Voting, with ongoing platform development over the coming weeks/months.

Our Committed Basis of Unity for waging an election campaign:

• Establish an organization that promotes collective decision-making and operates democratically by majority rule, serving as a model for internal union reform.
• Transition from secretive, bought-off, authoritarian decision-making to transparent decision-making, eliminating practices such as providing “Union Release Time” to board members to buy votes.
• Regular meetings to foster respect, trust, and acknowledgment of various skills within the team.
• Maintain discipline and accountability to our goals of transforming union operations.
• Candidly address past failures and learn from them.
• Respect majority decisions and carefully deliberate, debate, and nominate candidates through majority rule.
• Differentiate between SLATE politics and INDIVIDUAL politics, focusing on forming one cohesive progressive slate to challenge incumbents.
• Eventually establish a dues-paying member organization, with dues per meeting to be determined.
• Require potential voting members to attend a set number of coalition meetings to prevent last-minute vote manipulation.
• Implement rotating chair positions to prepare future candidates for VP or Chair positions through meeting leadership experience.
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