PA: PRT workers get pay boost for providing transit service during the draft

Pittsburgh Regional Transit and its unionized employees who work in transportation have signed a special agreement that will pay them time-and-a-half for regular hours worked during the three days of the NFL Draft this week.

The deal, which PRT and Local 85 of the Amalgamated Transit Union signed last month, also will pay employees double their normal pay for any overtime or extra days worked Thursday through Saturday. The Post-Gazette got a copy of the agreement from PRT through a Right to Know request.

Ross Nicotero, president and business agent for the union, said PRT created special service for the draft, so the union thought a special agreement was needed to provide that service. He called crowds of up 700,000 people attending the event over three days “unprecedented,” leading to the first special service agreement he has seen in 22 years with the agency.

“We want to make sure service shows up and the city can put its best foot forward for this event,” Mr. Nicotero said. “It’s the biggest event we’ve ever had in this city. I think we’re trying to make sure things are covered.”

Mr. Nicotero said the agency currently has about 1,050 bus and light rail operators and is budgeted for at least 100 more. With the draft expected to be an extremely busy time, Mr. Nicotero said, veteran employees could use their seniority rights to take time off rather than work, so the increased pay is incentive to keep them working.

PRT officials weren’t available to comment on the special agreement for extra pay.

For the draft, PRT created special dedicated routes known as Football Flyers to carry visitors to the draft from park-and-ride locations in the north, south, east and west suburbs in an attempt to keep drivers from going into the city. Those routes as well as the light rail system from the South Hills will run every 15 minutes from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday and Friday and every 30 minutes on Saturday.

Regular buses will operate on a Saturday schedule all three days.

The NFL and draft organizers are encouraging visitors to use public transit rather than drive their own vehicles into Pittsburgh because many city streets will be closed during the event.

Mr. Nicotero said he’s disappointed that the extra pay only will be available to employees directly related to service and doesn’t include employees such as mechanics and certain office employees represented by the union.

“I have 1,600 of my 2,200 people who are getting extra pay,” he said. “It should be all of them, but PRT decided to pick and choose who can get more money. I can’t hold out and not take the money for those people.”

PRT bus drivers start at $23.50 an hour, but veteran drivers can make about double that. That means some drivers who make top scale and work overtime will be paid more than $90 an hour during the draft.

Dealing with large crowds, heavy traffic and an aggressive schedule of service will lead to stressful workdays during the draft, Mr. Nicotero said.

The union believes the draft is an important event for the region, Mr. Nicotero said, and it wanted to cooperate with PRT to make sure it can provide the service needed to make it a success. He said he hopes the agency doesn’t use that against the union during contract talks that begin next week on a deal that expires June 30.

Not all the money to pay the drivers will be from PRT’s regular coffers. PRT will receive $350,000 from draft organizers for establishing the special service. Sheetz will provide up to $200,000 for free rides on the light rail system and the Monongahela Incline and the Pittsburgh Organizing Committee for the event and the Pittsburgh Foundation have agreed to reimburse the agency up to $175,000 for free rides on the Football Flyers.

It’s not clear whether that could be enough money to cover the agency’s extra costs.

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