The Wall Street Journal identified MTA subway car cleaning jobs — which start near NYC's $17/hour minimum wage — as coveted for their healthcare benefits. TWU Local 100 is now fighting the MTA's contract demand to raise those same healthcare costs by 50 percent for current workers.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that MTA subway car cleaning positions — a civil service gig that starts near New York City's $17-an-hour minimum wage — draw multi-year waitlists, with applicants drawn less by the pay than by what comes with the job: healthcare coverage the Journal described as "good medical care."

The timing is pointed. Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents car cleaners and other NYC Transit workers, is in open conflict with the MTA over a new contract. TWU president John V. Chiarello told members on July 2 that "we are at war" — and spelled out what the agency is seeking: raises below the rate of inflation; a 50 percent increase in healthcare contributions for current members; a 10 percent total healthcare contribution requirement for new hires, which Chiarello called "driving yet another wedge between current members and new hires — costing you thousands of dollars more each year"; a jump in emergency room co-pays from $100 to $150; and restrictions on prescription coverage.

Car cleaning is physically demanding overnight work. The starting pay, per the Journal, sits close to the city's $17-an-hour minimum wage floor, which took effect January 1. What has kept the civil service exam list for the title full, by the Journal's account, is the benefits package. The MTA's current bargaining position would raise the cost of that package substantially for anyone hired under a new contract.

TWU Local 100 has not announced a strike authorization vote. The talks are ongoing.