AI-assisted research summary: The authority must protect employee labor and benefit rights when it acquires or operates a transit system, and it may offer transferred workers first chance at comparable new jobs before service starts.
(a) The rights, benefits, and other employee protective conditions and remedies of Section (c) of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964, as amended (49 U.S.C. 1609), as determined by the Secretary of Labor, shall apply to the operation by the authority of any public transportation service and to any contract or other arrangement for the operation of the service. If the authority acquires an existing transit system, it shall assume and observe all existing labor contracts and pension obligations. All employees of the system except executive and administrative officers, shall be transferred to and appointed as employees of the authority, subject to all rights and benefits of this section. These employees shall be given seniority credit and sick leave, vacation, insurance, and pension credit in accordance with the records or labor agreements from the acquired transit system. The authority shall assume the obligations of any transit system acquired by it with regard to wages, salaries, hours, working conditions, sick leave, health and welfare, and pension or retirement provisions for employees. The authority and the employees shall take the appropriate action necessary to have the pension trust funds, presently under the joint control of the acquired transit system and the participating employees transferred to a trust fund to be established, maintained, and administered jointly by the authority and the participating employees. No employee of any acquired transit system who is transferred to a position with the authority shall, by reason of the transfer, be placed in any worse position with respect to workers’ compensation, unemployment compensation, pension, seniority, wages, sick leave, vacation, health and welfare insurance, or any other benefits than he or she enjoyed as an employee of the acquired transportation system. (b) Prior to commencing to operate any public transportation service, or entering into any contractual or other arrangement for the operation of the service, the authority may take the necessary action to extend to the employees of the transit system, in accordance with seniority, the first opportunity for reasonable comparable employment in any new jobs in respect to the operations for which they can qualify after a reasonable training period. (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the authority shall make deductions from wages and salaries of its employees upon receipt of authorization for the payment of: (1) Fees, or assessments, for the payment of contributions pursuant to any health and welfare plan or pension plan. (2) Any other purpose for which deductions may be authorized by employees of any private employer.