The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1342 have entered a three-year collective bargaining agreement. ATU members ratified the agreement last week, and the NFTA’s Board of Commissioners authorized the agreement at its meeting today, Thursday, April 28. The Union represents approximately 1,000 employees at the NFTA, including Bus and Rail Operators, Bus and Rail Mechanics, and those employed in the NFTA’s clerical department. The new starting salary is $20.03 per hour.

“The NFTA could not deliver our high-quality transit services throughout Western New York without our dedicated employees,” Kim Minkel, executive director, NFTA said. “We are proud to partner with ATU 1342 to offer this competitive market wage and quality of life improvements to our valued employees.”

“This contract is welcome news to the NFTA's drivers and mechanics who ensure riders get to where they need to be safely and efficiently and is the direct result of thoughtful negotiations that will ultimately impact the way these workers are paid, protected, and valued,” said Senator Tim Kennedy, Chair of the New York State Senate's Transportation Committee. “I commend the ATU's Jeff Richardson and the NFTA's Kim Minkel for crafting a fair contract that will not only retain but grow Western New York's transit workforce.”

The new starting wages for all NFTA employees represented by the ATU will position the NFTA to improve its recruitment of new employees at this time. In addition, the overall wage increases set forth in the new contract will help ensure the retention of our long-term employees, while other operational changes agreed to by the parties will alter existing work rules and other operational practices, to provide efficiencies and other improvements overall, all of which advances the NFTA’s mission and supports its many services to the public.