Union pushes back on MTA claims of foot-dragging in negotiations
Union leaders, including Kevin Sexton, (at microphones) give an update on negotiations outside MTA headquarters in lower Manhattan on Monday. Credit: Ed Quinn
Kevin Sexton, a vice president of one of the striking LIRR unions, said MTA claims that the unions were responsible for delays in restarting talks were "laughable."
“We had to leave and eat lunch, like every other human being. We weren't dodging anybody,” Sexton, a spokesman for the workers' bargaining coalition, said as he returned to MTA headquarters just before 3 p.m. “Unfortunately, from our perspective, in true MTA fashion, it's take two steps forward and one step back.”
He declined to go into particulars about the offers currently on the table, but said union negotiators were in a “windowless room without WiFi or printer.”
Less than an hour earlier, Gary Dellaverson, MTA chief negotiator, said the unions had shown "no sense of urgency" in ending the strike. He cited the example of the unions informing the MTA at 1 p.m. that they couldn't return to the bargaining table until 3 p.m.
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