A newly released report from Jobs to Move America and Cornell University’s Climate Jobs Institute reveals troubling findings about working conditions at MTA contractor Kawasaki’s railcar manufacturing facilities in New York and Nebraska.
Citing low pay, hazardous conditions and widespread experience of discrimination reported by workers, a coalition of NY and Nebraska groups are calling on Kawasaki to begin negotiating a legally binding Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) that would ensure the public monies the company receives are matched by fair treatment for its workers and neighbors.
Kawasaki has received billions of dollars over the past four decades to manufacture railcars for the MTA. In 2018, the NY MTA awarded the company a $4.5 billion railcar contract – the largest in its history.
Although Kawasaki committed to providing good jobs for the duration of the contract, specific details about wages and benefits have been withheld from the public by the MTA, citing the company’s concerns that such information may “unnecessarily agitate” its workforce.
In the absence of this data, report authors spent a year surveying 180 Kawasaki workers and conducted in-depth interviews with current and former workers to independently assess working conditions at the company’s manufacturing facilities in Nebraska and New York.
Many described a culture that prioritizes speed and profit over safety and well-being, contributing to low morale and serious injuries.
Key findings from the report
Pay Inequities
- Surveyed women earned $3.49 less per hour on average than surveyed men.
- Temporary workers hired through staffing agencies represented over half of survey respondents and earned $4.66 less per hour on average than workers directly hired through Kawasaki.
Unsafe Working Conditions
- Workers reported witnessing a coworker get injured (40%) or being injured themselves (17%) at their worksite.
Widespread Experience of Discrimination
- Half of workers reported witnessing unfair treatment based on race (24%), gender (24%), immigration status (10%), and other protected categories.
Toxic Workplace Culture
- Workers reported witnessing supervisors use slurs or derogatory language about a group of people (16%) and make offensive comments or jokes (27%) in the workplace.