'Mutuals' Come to Transit

One potentially key change resulting from the new Transport Workers Union Local 100 contract is that it permits transit workers throughout the system to trade shifts, something that previously was confined to just a couple of New York City Transit departments.

The practice, long permitted in the city’s uniformed agencies, is commonly referred to as “mutuals.” It allows workers in need of a change of shift to arrange it without creating a personnel gap for management. Thus, the benefit accrues not only to the two workers who find it convenient to trade, but to their bosses. Using the process avoids someone unexpectedly calling in sick because they either lacked a vacation day or couldn’t get a supervisor’s approval to miss that particular shift.