Last month I had the difficult task of asking our Board of Directors to unilaterally impose the Authority’s Final and Best Offer on ATU Local 85 after it became clear that there was no prospect of reaching a negotiated settlement.

We began preliminary discussions leading up to negotiations with Local 85 back in September 2007, nearly one year before the contact was set to expire. Yet, despite our best efforts, the union leadership has not negotiated in good faith and continues to be the major roadblock in reaching an agreement that would be fair to union members and responsible to transit riders and to Allegheny County taxpayers.

When negotiations broke down on June 30, 2008 (the eve of the contract expiration), both sides notified the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB) and requested that a Fact-Finder be appointed as required by the Second Class County Port Authority Act. The Fact-Finder’s report was issued in September 2008 and was unanimously accepted by the Port Authority Board. It would have significantly helped to restructure our healthcare and post-retirement benefits costs, while providing competitive wages and benefits to union members.

Unfortunately, the ATU Local 85 leadership rejected the Fact-Finder’s report.

As you ride your bus, T or incline today, please understand that the leadership of ATU Local 85 is solely responsible for this situation, not the union rank and file members. Union members and our other employees are hard working people who deliver vital transportation services each day. They are merely victims of their leadership’s failure to acknowledge Port Authority’s dire financial situation.

In fact, I have heard from many Local 85 members who are more than willing to share the sacrifices in wages and in healthcare and pension benefits that have been made by Port Authority’s non-represented employees in order to assure a sustainable public transit system for Pittsburgh and the region for years to come. You, our valued rider, have also made sacrifices in the way of fare increases and service cuts while Allegheny County taxpayers are doing their part via car rental and drink taxes. Unfortunately, Local 85 members have been characterized by many in the community as “the problem.” These individuals, the backbone of our organization, should not shoulder the blame. Rather, it is their elected leadership who retain its outrageous demands and continue to refuse to allow its members to have a say in a matter that will have a major impact on their lives.

As we prepare to implement this action on December 1, 2008, it is my sincere hope that the leadership of ATU Local 85 will allow its members to decide for themselves whether or not to accept this offer so that we may move forward and continue to do what we do best, Connect People to Life.