Contract For Port Authority Drivers Calls For Cuts

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The KDKA Investigators have learned a new contract offer to Port Authority drivers calls for major changes.

Under the new contract wages, benefits and health care will change dramatically.

The new contract freezes wages for all union employees. Current employees who do not qualify for post-retirement health care by the end of June 2012 will not get health care. Current employee health care contributions will be 20 percent.

The new deal cuts pay for new hires by 20 percent. New hires will also be offered a 401K plan instead of a pension plan.

"What we're doing is trying to bring our benefit levels in line with what you're going to find at any other employer," says Port Authority spokesman Jim Ritchie.

Meantime, Port Authority drivers union president Pat McMahon calls the new contract "outrageous" and "ridiculous."

McMahon tells the KDKA Investigators the new deal is an attempt to destroy the union and mass transit in our region.

The current contract expires in June of 2012.

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