After two days of voting, TCAT transportation staff represented by the United Auto Workers Local 2300 overwhelmingly approved a strike authorization on Wednesday evening, with 84 percent voting in favor.
This strike authorization vote does not guarantee or require a strike to occur — instead, it gives the bargaining team the authority to call a strike, which the UAW states could happen “if management does not improve their offer.”
“This strong act of solidarity sends a clear message: we are united, we are ready and we will not settle for less than what we deserve,” the UAW wrote in a statement published Wednesday evening. “TCAT management must understand that our members are prepared to take action if they continue to refuse to offer the fair contract that we deserve.”
TCAT General Manager Matthew Rosenbloom-Jones expressed hope that workers would consider the contract offer currently on the table.
“The UAW has done a strike authorization vote, and that's their prerogative,” Rosenbloom-Jones said. “But they should also allow membership to vote on this offer here because, ultimately, we feel that membership should have a say in their future at TCAT for the next three years.”
Rosenbloom-Jones highlighted that the wages offered in the contract are among the highest offered in New York.
“We have put out our best and final offer, which has some fantastic wages in it,” Rosenbloom-Jones said. “The starting wage for a bus operator in our best and final offer is $26.94 an hour. That will be the highest bus operator starting hourly wage in Upstate New York.”
The starting wages offered by TCAT have remained constant over the past several bargaining sessions.
“There may not have been a whole lot of financial movement since we talked [on Feb. 27], because we've put out an offer that really uses all of our resources that we have available to us,” Rosenbloom-Jones said.
However, some union members voiced concerns that TCAT’s wages have not kept pace with cost-of-living, and are worth less than their wages from 2019 after adjusting for inflation. Wages offered by TCAT for “many roles, particularly Custodians and Bus Handlers, remain below the living wage of $24.82/hour,” according to the UAW.
In addition to the wage offered, Rosenbloom-Jones highlighted other provisions that he said improved the contract.
“We've extended the minimum rest period, shortened the maximum spread — which is the amount of hours of bus operators scheduled to be on duty — added a longevity pay system and a $500 ratification bonus,” Rosenbloom-Jones said.
However, the room for adjustments to the contract is limited, and a strike authorization is not likely to change what management is putting forward according to Rosenbloom-Jones.
“We're always willing to sit down and talk with the UAW. But our best and final offer is exactly what it is — it's the best and final offer,” Rosenbloom-Jones said. “We don't really have any more room to move, because being a public transit system, we have fixed revenues. We're not a profit-making entity, so unfortunately we have a limit to how much we can put into our offer.”
According to Rosenbloom-Jones, TCAT cannot feasibly increase wages or add cost-of-living adjustments — otherwise known as a COLA — because of its funding mechanism. TCAT relies on fixed rates of federal and state funding, as well as contributions from its three underwriters — the City of Ithaca, Tompkins County and Cornell University.
“A COLA would add a level of instability to our operating expenses,” Rosenbloom-Jones said. “That would mean that we would have to keep coming more and more often to the underwriters for money, and that's just not sustainable.”
Hannah Shvets ’27, an Ithaca resident and candidate for Ithaca Common Council Ward 5, attended the March 8 UAW and TCAT workers’ rally for TCAT workers with the Cornell Young Democratic Socialists of America. Shvets expressed the importance of student support for TCAT workers, which she hopes will help increase momentum for the movement.
“I was there to show a student presence and represent riders,” Shvets said. “The turnout was great — I think they have a lot of really good momentum.”
Shvets noted that a strike would impact a large number of residents at Cornell, in Ithaca and across Tompkins County. In 2023, the annual ridership of TCAT was reported at 2,189,593 riders, and the Cornell community accounted for approximately 70 percent of all TCAT riders.
“[A TCAT strike] is going to impact people all over the city,” Shvets said. “This is one issue that students and locals have in common.”
Rosenbloom-Jones noted that a strike would cause concerns for the Ithaca community.
“A strike would be truly devastating to TCAT, to the UAW members themselves … and the whole Ithaca community,” Rosenbloom-Jones said. “We really are hoping to avoid that.”
Shvets hopes that a TCAT strike would spark conversation about the importance of transportation for students and speed up negotiations.
“I think it's going to really force people to think about TCAT more than they ever have before,” Shvets said. “Everyone is going to be pressuring TCAT to settle as quickly as possible with the union.”
The TCAT strike authorization comes after UAW Local 2300 — representing Cornell dining, custodial, maintenance and other workers — authorized a strike in the summer of 2024. UAW Local 2300 and Cornell came to an agreement after two weeks of worker strikes that led to disruptions in dining hall function.
