MCTS Labor Negotiations Extended

MCTS Administration building, 1942 N. 17th St. Photo taken July 18, 2025 by Graham Kilmer.

The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) and the union representing transit workers still have not agreed to a new labor contract, but negotiations are ongoing.

Both parties have agreed to an extension of the existing contract through Sept. 30, providing another two months for negotiations.

MCTS and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 have been negotiating a new three-year contract since January. Union members recently voted down an offer from MCTS for a new one-year contract. The vote and the offer arrived as labor tension had escalated to the point where the union was preparing for a possible strike.

In May, ATU organized a picket outside of the MCTS Administration building, 1942 N. 17th St. It was over contract negotiations, or lack thereof. ATU Vice President Michael Brown told Urban Milwaukee in May negotiations seemed to be hitting a wall. A few weeks later, MCTS announced a $10.9 million budget deficit, shocking county government officials, as well as the union.

The union was informed of the budget deficit in the middle of negotiations, damaging the already tenuous trust between the two parties. A strike vote was called in early July and members gave ATU leaders the authority to call a strike at any time as negotiations progress.

The last time the union called a strike was in 2015. And since then, members have provided strike authority during every contract negotiation. In 2018, negotiations lasted nearly two years and nearly ended in a strike. In 2022, the union voted to authorize a strike but reached an agreement with MCTS before calling it.

The vote against the one-year contract turned on a handful of issues, including security, health insurance and overtime. The contract included provisions that ATU said could lead to the dismantling of the new security force it spent years pushing for, Brown told Urban Milwaukee after the vote.

MCTS will return to the negotiating table during a period of transition for the system. A new CEO and president, Steve Fuentes, will take over leadership of the system. Service hours will be cut in the fall in response to the 2025 operating deficit. Transit system leaders will also enter the annual county budget process, where they will likely have to evaluate how much service the system can afford to provide moving forward.

The system has a longstanding structural deficit that has been covered since 2020 by federal stimulus funds. Officials have previously said service cuts in 2026 are not off the table. When the federal funds are spent down, the system will face a massive fiscal cliff that could reach as high as $17 million in 2027.