United States Version PDF - Amalgamated Transit Union

2 0 1 0
MAY/JUNE
www.atu.org
Official Journal of the Amalgamated Transit Union
AFL-CIO/CLC
SPEC I A L R E P O RT: W H Y FIRSTGROUP MATTERS
What’s he lookin’ at?
This Scot’s company is the single largest employer of ATU members . From FirstGroup’s
headquarters in the UK, CEO Sir Moir Lockhead has his eyes on your contract, your pay,
your benefits , and how they affect FirstGroup’s bottom line. This special report tells you who
they are, how they operate, and why you should keep your eyes on them…whether you work
for FirstGroup or not !
Special Report begins after page 8.
Amalgamated Transit union
international officers
Message du Président International par Warren S. George
WARREN s. gEORGE
International President
RONALD J. HEINTZMAN
International Executive Vice President
Oscar Owens
International Secretary-Treasurer
International Vice Presidents
Comment des campagnes stratégiques peuvent-elle profiter aux membres de l’ATU ?
Dans ce In Transit, vous trouverez une section spéciale qui décrit une nouvelle “campagne stratégique” que nous menons au nom de nos membres FirstGroup.
Ces campagnes stratégiques sont un concept relativement nouveau pour les syndicats, alors j’ai pensé utiliser cette colonne pour vous parler un peu de ce sujet.
Il y a dix ans, l’ATU était un syndicat différent de ce qu’il est aujourd’hui:
• Premièrement, si nos membres étaient employés par une entreprise privée, celle-ci avait tendance à être une petite entreprise familiale. Et la convention
collective négociée par les autorités locales avait peu d’effet sur nos membres qui travaillaient pour des organismes publics.
JOSEPH WELCH
• Deuxièmement, notre département de recherche n’avait qu’à obtenir les taux de rémunération en vigueur et les avantages offerts par des entreprises équivalentes
pour aider ceux qui négociaient des conventions collectives locales. On n’avait pas besoin d’être «proactifs».
RODNEY RICHMOND
• Et, troisièmement, il n’était pas nécessaire de maintenir constamment des liens de communication instantanée entre les représentants locaux et internationaux
pour rester à jour au niveau des informations nécessaires à la négociation collective réussie.
Syracuse, NY
New Orleans, LA – [email protected]
DONALD T. HANSEN
Tenino, WA – [email protected]
Les temps ont changé
Aujourd’hui, nos employeurs du secteur privé sont les grandes entreprises multinationales qui opèrent à partir de maisons mères et qui ont des départements
importants et sophistiqués pour les grandes relations dans le travail et qui sont en communication constante avec les gestionnaires locaux.
ROBERT H. BAKER
Et ces opérateurs privés - qui gèrent un nombre croissant d’agences de transport en commun - menacent de baisser les salaires et les avantages de toute l’industrie
du transport - public et privé. Certes, cela semble être leur objectif.
LARRY R. KINNEAR
De toute évidence, la manière dont nous représentons nos employés du secteur privé a dû changer. C’est pourquoi j’ai créé le département des campagnes stratégiques.
Le nouveau département exerce non seulement des fonctions de recherche traditionnelle, mais il recueille et analyse également les contrats pour les rémunérations
entre les districts de transit et les prestataires privés.
Washington, DC – [email protected]
Ashburn, ON – [email protected]
RANDY GRAHAM
Gloucester, ON – [email protected]
JAVIER M. PEREZ, JR.
Kansas City, MO – [email protected]
RICHARD M. MURPHY
Braintree, MA
Le département nous donne les outils nécessaires pour concentrer nos efforts d’organisation dans les domaines où nous pouvons obtenir une plus grande densité.
En d’autres termes, si votre section syndicale représente les employés d’un district de transit, nous serons en mesure de travailler pour organiser des entreprises de
transport privées non syndicalisées dans la même région et qui travaillent pour des salaires inférieurs aux employés syndicalisés.
Plus de poids
Lorsque votre section syndicale représente et négocie pour des membres d’autres entreprises de votre région, elle aura plus de poids à la table des négociations.
BOB M. HYKAWAY
Le Département encourage les membres des sections syndicales à s’impliquer dans les élections ou les nominations des représentants des districts de transit, y
compris pour des postes d’officiers des sections syndicales au sein des conseils de transit.
CHARLES COOK
Le ministère fournit également aux sections syndicales des contrats avec des informations sur les rémunérations et des informations pour négocier de façon
stratégique. Ainsi, les sections syndicales n’ont pas à fonctionner dans le vide. Elles peuvent négocier de concert avec une analyse plus large des employeurs privés, de
leurs contrats et des conventions collectives dans tout le pays.
Calgary, AB – [email protected]
Petaluma, CA – [email protected]
WILLIAM G. McLEAN
Je vous invite à lire la section FirstGroup dans ce numéro et à en apprendre davantage sur la campagne stratégique.
Reno, NV – [email protected]
JANIS M. BORCHARDT
Madison, WI – [email protected]
PAUL BOWEN
Canton, MI – [email protected]
LAWRENCE J. HANLEY
Staten Island, NY – [email protected]
Kenneth R. Kirk
Lancaster, TX – [email protected]
GARY RAUEN
Clayton, NC – [email protected]
Marcellus Barnes
Flossmore, IL – [email protected]
RAY RIVERA
Lilburn, GA– [email protected]
International Representatives
Un Mensaje Del Presidente Internacional por Warren S. GeorgE
COMO LAS CAMPAÑAS ESTRATÉGICAS BENEFICIAN A LOS MIEMBROS DE LA ATU
En esta edición de In Transit usted encontrará una sección especial que describe a nueva “campaña estratégica” la cual estamos comenzando en beneficio de los
miembros del Primer Grupo. Las campañas estratégicas representan relativamente un nuevo concepto para las uniones de trabajadores, por lo tanto, yo estoy utilizando
esta columna para informarle a usted algunos detalles lo que eso significa.
Diez años atrás, la unión ATU era una organización sindical diferente de lo que es hoy día:
• Primero, si nuestros miembros estaban empleados por una empresa privada, dicha empresa tendía a ser una pequeña operación comúnmente llamada de
“mamá y papá.” Y el contrato colectivo que se negociaba por la unión local tenía poco efecto sobre nuestros miembros que trabajaban para agencias públicas.
• Segundo, nuestro departamento de investigaciones necesitaba solamente facilitar datos sobre los salarios y beneficios prevalecientes en empresas equivalentes,
a fin de asesorar y ayudar a aquellos que realizaban esas negociaciones colectivas a nombre de la unión local. Y esto no era necesario que fuera una cuestión
“proactiva.”
• Y, tercero, no era necesario mantener una comunicación instantánea y permanente entre los dirigentes de la unión local y la unión internacional para
mantenerse actualizados con la información que era necesaria para la exitosa negociación de un contrato colectivo.
Los Tiempos Han Cambiado
YVETTE SALAZAR
Hoy día, nuestros empleadores privados son ahora grandes compañías multinacionales que operan desde ubicaciones centrales, con grandes departamentos de
relaciones laborales altamente sofisticados y los cuales mantienen constante comunicación con sus gerentes locales.
ANTHONY WITHINGTON
Y estos operadores privados, los cuales administran un creciente número de agencias de tránsito de servicio público amenazan la reducción de salarios y beneficios
de la total industria del tránsito – pública y privada. Ciertamente, eso parecen ser sus objetivos.
GARY JOHNSON, SR.
Obviamente, la manera en que nosotros representamos a nuestros empleados en la industria privada tenía que cambiarse. Por eso es que yo he establecido el
departamento de campañas estratégicas. El nuevo departamento no solo realiza funciones de investigaciones tradicionales, sino también colecciona y analiza los
contratos de ingresos entre los distritos de tránsito y los proveedores privados.
DENNIS ANTONELLIS
El departamento nos provee con las herramientas necesarias para concentrar nuestros esfuerzos de organización en aéreas donde nosotros podemos construir
densidad. En otras palabras, si su unión local representa a los empleados de un distrito de tránsito, nosotros estaremos en condiciones de trabajar hacia el objetivo de
organizar a proveedores privados que no ofrecen servicio de tránsito en la misma área y quienes están socavando sus salarios.
Thornton, CO – [email protected]
Sebastopol, CA – [email protected]
Cleveland, OH – [email protected]
Spokane, WA – [email protected]
KAREN MILLER-LEWIS
Memphis, TN – [email protected]
Más Poder
Canadian Council
Cuando su unión local representa y negocia a favor de miembros en otras empresas en su área, esto le otorga a su unión local mucho más poder en la mesa de
negociación.
ROBIN G. WEST
El departamento está instando a las uniones locales a que tomen parte en los procesos eleccionarios y de nombramiento de representantes de distritos de tránsito,
incluyendo la participación de dirigentes de ATU de uniones locales en las juntas y comisiones de tránsito.
Canadian Director
61 International Boulevard, Suite 210
Rexdale, ON M9W 6K4
[email protected]
El departamento también está facilitando a las uniones locales con contratos de ingresos e información sobre la negociación para ayudarles que ellas puedan
negociar estratégicamente. Así, pues, las uniones locales no tienen que operar en un vacío. Ellas pueden negociar conjuntamente, con un análisis más amplio de los
empleadores privados, con conocimiento de los contratos de ingresos, y de los contratos colectivos negociados a través del país.
Yo le invito a que usted lea la sección Primer Grupo que aparece en esta edición, para que así pueda aprender más sobre la campaña estratégica.
2
IN TRANSIT
www.atu.org
A MEssAgE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL PREsIDENT
How Strategic Campaigns
Benefit ATU Members
I
n this In Transit you will find a special section describing a new “strategic campaign” we are undertaking
on behalf of our FirstGroup members. Strategic campaigns are a relatively new concept for labor
unions, so I thought I’d use this column to tell you a little about it.
Ten years ago, the ATU was a different union than it is today:
First, if our members were employed by a private company, the property tended to be a small “mom
and pop” operation. And the collective bargaining agreement negotiated by the local had little effect
upon our members who worked for public agencies.
Second, our research department needed only to provide prevailing wage rates and benefits at
equivalent properties to assist those negotiating local union contracts. It did not need to be “proactive.”
And, third, it was not necessary to maintain instant, on-going communication between local and
international officials to stay up-to-date with the information needed for successful collective bargaining.
‘…these private
operators…threaten
to depress the
wages and benefits
TIMEs HAVE cHANgED
of the entire
Today, our private employers are large, multinational companies which operate out of central
locations, with large, sophisticated labor relations departments that are in constant communication
with local managers.
transit industry…’
And these private operators which are managing a growing number of public transit agencies
threaten to depress the wages and benefits of the entire transit industry – public and private. Certainly,
that seems to be their goal.
Obviously, the way in which we represent our private employees had to change. That’s why I
established the strategic campaigns department. The new department not only performs traditional
research functions but also collects and analyzes the revenue contracts between the transit districts
and private providers.
The department provides us with the tools necessary to concentrate our organizing efforts in areas
where we can build density. In other words, if your local represents the employees of a particular
transit district, we will be able to work toward organizing private, non-union transit providers in the
same area who are undercutting your wages.
MORE cLOUT
When your local represents and bargains for members at other properties in your area, it gives your
local more clout at the bargaining table.
The department is encouraging locals to get involved in elections or appointments of transit district
representatives, including seating ATU local officers on transit boards.
The department is also supplying locals with revenue contracts and bargaining information to help
them to negotiate strategically. Thus, locals don’t have to operate in a vacuum. They can negotiate in
concert with a broader analysis of private employers, their revenue contracts, and collective bargaining
agreements across the country.
I invite you to read the FirstGroup section in this issue of In Transit, and learn more about the
strategic campaign.
www.atu.org
MAY / JUNE 2010
3
MAY/JUNE
2010
Vol. 119`, No. 3
w w w . a t u . o r g
contents
2
Why FirstGroup Matters
International Officers &
general Executive Board
A Special Report for ATU Members
International President’s Message
in French & Spanish
3
International President’s Message
How Strategic Campaigns Benefit Members
4
Magazine Index
5
International Executive
Vice President’s Message
Raids: Preparing for a Fight
6
International secretaryTreasurer’s Message
56th Convention: Will You Be Represented?
7
ATU, TWU Rally for
Operating Assistance in Atlanta
8
Proposed changes to the
ATU constitution and general Laws
In 1999, FirstGroup – a foreign corporation none of us knew – appeared on our
shores. Less than a decade later, “First” claimed 100,000 employees across North
America in subsidiaries like First Transit, First Student, First Canada and Greyhound.
That included over 13,000 ATU members. For the first time in decades a for-profit
company was the largest employer of ATU members. And our industry would never
be the same.
Special Report begins after page 8.
3
How Strategic Campaigns
Benefit ATU Members
Organizing Update
7
sPEcIAL REPORT: Why Firstgroup Matters
9
Know Your Rights
Americans with Disabilities Act Amended
10 Legislative Report
Emergency Operating Assistance Bill
Introduced in Senate
11 canadian Agenda
How Do You Get to ‘Transit City?’
7
13
14 Local News
ATU, TWU Rally for
Operating Assistance in Atlanta
‘Save Our Ride’ Rallies Kickoff in the
South with Local 732
10
Legislative Report
11
Canadian Agenda
12 2010 Latino caucus conference call
13 george: Transit Jobs Are green Jobs
International President Addresses
Green Jobs, Good Jobs Conference
A Message from the
International President
Emergency Operating Assistance
Bill Introduced in Senate
How Do You Get to ‘Transit City?’
15 In Memoriam
16 Fifty-sixth convention checklist
cOVER IMAgE
FirstGroup CEO Sir Moir Lockhead
Micha Theiner/CityAM/Rex USA
4
IN TRANSIT
Subscription: USA and Canada, $5 a year. Single copy: 50 cents. All others: $10 a year. Published bimonthly by the Amalgamated Transit Union, Editor:
Shawn Perry, Designer: David F. Highnote. Editorial Office: 5025 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20016-4139. Tel: 1-202-537-1645. Please send
all requests for address changes to the ATU Registry Dept. ISSN: 0019-3291, USPS: 260-280.
PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40033361. RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO: B&M Mailing Service Limited, 35 Van Kirk Drive,
Unit 15, Brampton, Ontario L7A 1A5, [email protected]
The objects of this International Union shall be to organize Local Unions; to place our occupation upon a higher plane of intelligence, efficiency and skill; to encourage the
formation in Local Unions of sick and funeral benefit funds in order that we may properly care for our sick and bury our dead; to encourage the organization of cooperative
credit unions in the Local Unions; to establish schools of instruction for imparting a practical knowledge of modern and improved methods and systems of transportation and
trade matters generally; to encourage the settlement of all disputes between employees and employers by arbitration; to secure employment and adequate pay for our work,
including vacations with pay and old age pensions; to reduce the hours of labor and by all legal and proper means to elevate our moral, intellectual and social condition. To engage
in such legislative, political, educational, cultural, social, and welfare activities as will further the interests and welfare of the membership of the Organization. To seek the
improvement of social and economic conditions in the United States and Canada and to promote the interests of labor everywhere.
www.atu.org
A MEssAgE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL EXEcUTIVE VIcE PREsIDENT
Raids: Preparing for a Fight
I
n addition to the threat of public-private partnerships, and the recent trend of private contractors
demanding to reopen our contracts, there is a growing threat of raids from the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters.
The Teamsters are a part of the “Change to Win” coalition which was formed in 2005, when several
international and national unions broke away from the AFL-CIO. The CTW unions insisted that
they had to form a new group because the federation did not do enough organizing. They pledged
that they would aggressively organize and increase the numbers of the labor movement.
But many onlookers felt, and I was one of them, that this was simply going to provide these breakaway unions the opportunity to raid AFL-CIO-affiliated unions without recourse or penalty. (Affiliates
of the AFL-CIO, are barred from raiding other affiliated unions.)
‘they take the easy
route where the
atu has already
At the time of the split in 2005, the ATU was able to renew a longstanding no-raid agreement with
the Teamsters which dated back to the days when Jimmy Hoffa, Sr., served as president.
That agreement ended in March 2009, when the Teamsters refused to extend the no-raid agreement
unless the ATU agreed not to organize certain private transportation companies. International President
George obviously refused to sign such an agreement, and with a gentleman’s handshake, the two
international presidents agreed not to raid one another.
Unfortunately, the Teamsters have not honored that agreement. They have been actively and openly
raiding ATU locals in the United States. They take the easy route, targeting properties where the ATU
has already done the hard work of organizing the unorganized. And they prey on locals where there
are members who feel they have not been adequately represented.
TIME TO FIgHT BAcK!
done the hard work
of organizing the
unorganized.’
It is time for the ATU to fight back! While the Teamsters may outnumber us in terms of size and
money, the ATU negotiates superior contracts in mass transit as compared to any other union, and
has earned the reputation as the leader in the transportation industry.
In preparing for this fight, there is an immediate action that every local should take, if they haven’t
already done so. That is to ensure that they are members of their respective state, provincial, and local
labor councils.
Section 15 of the ATU Constitution requires United States locals to affiliate with central bodies
and state federations chartered by the AFL-CIO, and Canadian locals to affiliate with district labour
councils and provincial federations chartered by the Canadian Labour Congress, unless excused by
the International President.
LOcAL LABOR AFFILIATIONs MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
This affiliation is more important than ever before in light of the current raids by the Teamsters.
Though certain ”Change to Win” unions are no longer affiliates of the national AFL-CIO, many of
their locals have continued their participation and affiliation with state federations and central labor
councils through “solidarity” agreements. These solidarity agreements, in most cases, require affiliate
unions to abide by the provisions contained in the AFL-CIO Constitution, including the no-raid
provisions.
If you hear that another union is on your property soliciting your members, contact your central or
district labor council (assuming your local is a member) and file the necessary protest. Also, immediately
contact the International Union for guidance and assistance.
And remember, local unions become vulnerable to raids by other unions if the members perceive they
are not being represented. So local officers should make sure their local bargaining units are serviced.
Compare contracts. ATU contracts are second to none.
www.atu.org
MAY / JUNE 2010
5
A MEssAgE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL sEcRETARY-TREAsURER
Will You Be Represented?
I
am sure you have seen notices in this magazine and on the ATU website (www.atu.org), that your
Union will be convening its 56th International Convention in Lake Buena Vista, FL, on Monday,
September 27. The ATU Constitution requires that every ATU local union be represented by delegates
at this Convention. Yet, at each Convention, several locals do not send any delegates. This is a disservice
to you as a member of the ATU.
‘the convention
has a great deal
The International provides funds to locals to defray the mileage and legitimate expenses of delegates.
Under Section 6.13 of the ATU Constitution, the International pays $1,000 for the first delegate and
additional $750 for locals sending two or more delegates. While this does not cover all the expenses
of attending, it certainly assists our smaller locals.
YEA OR NAY
to do with the
future of the atu’
The Convention is where the business of the International is conducted. It is where the Constitution
and Laws of this Union are amended and set for another three years, including provisions relating to
local unions and local union elections. Changes to the ATU Constitution affect every local and you
need to be represented so your delegate(s) can vote yea or nay on the business before the Convention.
Equally important – the delegates consider resolutions that affect the policies of the International
regarding issues such as organizing, fighting for legislation, and social justice.
ELEcTIONs OF INTERNATIONAL OFFIcERs
Finally, of course, the delegates to the Convention determine the future leaders of the ATU. The
delegates nominate and elect the international president, the international executive vice president, the
international secretary-treasurer and 18 international vice presidents. The international vice presidents
are the men and women on the ground who assist your local with bargaining and sometimes help
resolve internal disputes. They also help locals draft bylaws, and for many of the smaller locals, argue
arbitration cases.
The three executive officers, along with the international vice presidents, who comprise the ATU
General Executive Board, conduct the business of this Union between Conventions. They determine
matters such as which locals will receive financial assistance; and they determine appeals from members
and officers. They supervise the international staff including the organizers and the strategic campaigns
staff. They oversee the Union’s critical legislative efforts which affect every member.
I know that many of the smaller locals are deciding right now whether they can afford to send a
delegate to the Convention. I would suggest that you have to find a way to send the requisite delegate(s).
The Convention has a great deal to do with determining the future of the ATU, both on the
international and local levels. It has a great deal to do with your future as a member.
Be sure that your local sends its delegates to the Convention. Have a voice in the future of
your Union!
6
IN TRANSIT
www.atu.org
ATU, TWU Rally for Operating Assistance in Atlanta
T
he campaign to pass a bill allowing all transit agencies to use at least a portion of their federal
support for operating expenses (wages, administration, etc.) came to Atlanta on May 11.
Local 732-Atlanta, GA, turned out a great crowd at one of the city’s transit stations, for the first
in a series of “Save Our Ride” rallies. The Atlanta rally comes at a time when the Metropolitan
Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) is struggling to avoid massive layoffs and service cuts.
7
1
2
6
5
4
3
Clockwise from top right: (1) International President Warren S. George, backed by ATU members, exhorted the throng to text “Our Ride” to 69866 in order to send a message to their representatives in Congress
to pass operating assistance bills to prevent widespread layoffs and service reductions by the end of this year. (2) Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, president of Rainbow/PUSH, “revved up” the crowd in his usual fashion.
(3) The media showed up at the rally wanting an interview with the international president. (4) MARTA General Manager Dr. Beverly Scott lent her strong support to the cause. (5) Rally participants donned
surgical masks to demonstrate what the future might hold in a smog-filled Atlanta with little public transit. (6) The crowd at the rally. (7) Local President Benita West, 732-Atlanta, GA, MC’d the event.
www.atu.org
MAY / JUNE 2010
7
Proposed Amendment TO THE ATU Constitution and General Laws
Submitted to the International Union for Consideration by
The 56th ATU International Convention
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Meeting in Lake Buena Vista, FL, September 26 – October 1, 2010
Section 6.16 of the ATU Constitution mandates that local union
resolutions which propose amendments to our Laws must first be
approved by the local’s membership and stamped with the union’s official
seal before being forwarded to the International. Any such resolutions,
further, have to be received by the International no later than August 1 of
the year in which the Convention is to be held. No resolution proposing
a Constitutional amendment that has not met the stated conditions can
be considered by the ATU Convention unless two-thirds of the delegates
present vote to allow it to be presented.
Resolutions fulfilling the specified conditions are printed in materials
distributed to all of the delegates at the opening of the Convention. In
addition, Section 6.16 requires that all resolutions received by April 1
of the year in which the Convention is to be held are to be published
in the May/June issue of the In Transit.
As of April 1, 2010, the International had received only one resolution
proposing an amendment to the Constitution in satisfaction of the
above conditions. In accordance with Section 6.16 of our Laws, that
resolution, which will be duly submitted to the Fifty-Sixth Convention
that is scheduled to convene in Lake Buena Vista, FL, on September
27, 2010, is reproduced below:
RESOLUTION NO. 1
Submitted by Local 779 (Sioux City, IA)
6.13 Delegate Expenses. The I.U. shall pay one thousand dollars
($1000.00) to each L.U., J.B.C., and C.C. towards the mileage and
legitimate expenses of a L.U., J.B.C. and C.C.’s first delegate and an
additional seven hundred and fifty dollars ($750.00) to a L.U., J.B.C.
and C.C. sending two (2) or more delegates. The I.U. shall pay one
thousand five hundred dollars ($1500.00) towards mileage and legitimate
expenses of a L.U., J.B.C. and C.C. having fifty (50) or fewer members.
All other mileage and legitimate expenses for delegates shall be borne
by the L.U., J.B.C. and C.C. they represent.
The resolution shall begin with the 56th International Convention.
Recent Organizing Victories
Congratulations to the employees at the following properties who have voted to become
members of the ATU and the locals who helped them organize:
UNITED STATES
Local
Employer
The Amalgamated Transit Union will hold the 25th
Annual Golf Tournament for the benefit of the ATU’s U.S.
and Canadian Multiple Sclerosis Research Funds from
Sunday, October 24th – Monday, October 25th, at the
Worthington Manor Golf Club in Urbana, MD. Sunday
will be reserved for a practice round, and the actual
tournament will be held on Monday.
For more information, please contact Ynez Wells at (202) 537-1645 or by email at [email protected].
8
IN TRANSIT
# of
Employees
Type of
Employees
192-Oakland, CA
A-Paratransit Corp. (Hayward, CA)
100
paratransit operators
398-Boise, ID
First Transit
18
bus operators
425 Hartford, CT
Transit (Hartford, CT)
8
reservationists
448-Springfield, MA
Lecrenski Brothers
25
school bus operators
1005-Mnpls.-St. Paul, MN
First Transit (Minneapolis, MN)
22
mechanics & utility workers
1005-Mnpls.-St. Paul, MN
First Transit (Blaine, MN)
7
mechanics
1181-New York, NY
GVC School Bus
1535-Harahan, LA
Veolia Transportation (River Parish, LA)
1700-Nat’l
Greyhound terminals*
200
terminal workers
1733-Vernon Hills, IL
IL Central School bus (Chicago, Area)
275
operators & attendants
1756-Arcadia, CA
First Transit, Inc. (Foothill/Pamona)
50
mechanics & yard workers
1763-Rocky Hill, CT
First Transit
20
clericals
390
8
school bus drivers & matrons
bus operators
* Los Angeles & Sacramento, CA; Atlanta, GA; Buffalo, NY; Cleveland, OH; and Jacksonville, FL
CANADA
# of
Location
Employer
Employees
Brantford, ON
Operation Lift, Inc.
19
Brampton, ON
Stocks Transportation
7
Ottawa, ON
DC Synergy, Ltd.
18
Sault Ste Marie, ON
Sault Ste Marie Transit
76
Vancouver, BC
MV Transportation
500
Type of
Employees
paratransit operators
mechanics & stock personnel
freight & ticket agents
transit operators
paratransit operators, mechanics & adm. employees
www.atu.org
Why FirstGroup Matters
A Special Report for ATU Members
Fast Facts
75
FirstGroup is the single largest
introduction by international president warren s. george
In 1999, FirstGroup – a foreign corporation none of us
knew – appeared on our shores. Less than a decade later,
“First” claimed 100,000 employees across North America
in subsidiaries like First Transit, First Student, First Canada
and Greyhound. That included over 13,000 ATU members:
more than the San Francisco Bay area’s BART, more
employer of ATU members.
than Washington DC’s WMATA, more than Chicago’s
Seventy-five (75) ATU local
CTA, more even than Toronto’s TTC. Dozens of ATU
unions across the United States
and Canada represent members
e m p l oye d o r m a n a g e d by
local unions now confronted a single multinational giant.
For the first time in decades a for-profit company was the
largest employer of ATU members. And our industry would
never be the same.
FirstGroup.
In all my years with the ATU, I have never seen a company like FirstGroup. Wherever
First appeared, hard-won wages, benefits and working conditions came under
attack. It seemed like every day my phone rang with a local union leader reporting a
horror story about the new management. I’d hear members say First managers were
making people work off the clock, or firing people based on secretive background
checks. They’d tell me the FirstGroup employee handbook, not the union contract,
dictated how things would be run. They’d tell me how they sat down to bargain and
FirstGroup would say that corporate management had ordered 0% increases this year,
so there was nothing to talk about.
The ATU decided to fight back. In this special section of In Transit you will find out
who and what FirstGroup is. You will learn where they came from and how they make
their money. You will find out what FirstGroup has thrown at ATU members – and how the
First Student Drivers Johnny Sharp,
Regan Love, & Charles Murtagh, ATU
Local 381 - Helena, MT
Union has responded. And you will find out what YOU can do to fight back!
www.atu.org
MARCH / APRIL 2010
1
Page 2 — Why FirstGroup Matters
FirstGroup: Where Did they come From?
Fast Facts
tHe britisH are coMing
First was born in Great Britain in the 1980s, when the British government decided
to contract out the nation’s public buses, subways and trams to private companies. Moir
FirstGroup CEO Moir Lockhead
Lockhead, the general manager of Aberdeen, Scotland’s bus and rail authority, arranged a
was knighted by Queen Elizabeth
buyout of his own transit system. One by one he acquired commuter rail, bus, subway and
for “services to British transport.”
streetcar networks all over the United Kingdom for his transportation empire. Looking for
(But in life, “Sir Moir” is more like
a backwards Robin Hood who
robs from the workers to give to
rich British stockholders!)
new places to expand, he began casting his eyes on North America.
Lockhead got his first stake by purchasing Ryder Public Transportation (parent of Ryder/
ATE and Ryder Student Transportation) in 1999. He spent the decade scooping up mid-sized
school bus, paratransit, and big bus firms across the United States and Canada – familiar names
like Hertz Bus, Cardinal Coach and Coach USA Transit. But the big prize was still to come.
laidlaw laid low
First wanted to be the biggest school bus and mass transit contractor in North America,
and now there was only one thing in its way: the storied Canadian bus company Laidlaw and
its nearly 50,000 buses and vans. In 2007 First made its move. The British multinational
Photo: Micha Theiner/CityAM/Rex USA
shelled out $ 3.4 billion* for the Canadian-American transportation giant.
In a single transaction First had leaped to the top of the yellow-bus, student
transportation heap and had drawn even with rivals like Veolia in mass transit and
paratransit. First had even picked up Greyhound, another Laidlaw company,
in the bargain. In the wake of the massive merger First would slash
payrolls by laying off thousands – from office managers to bus
operators – to emerge as a highly profitable multinational
conglomerate with one foot back in Britain and the other in
the New World.
2
IN TRANSIT
www.atu.org
A Special Report for ATU Members – Page 3
Where Does FirstGroup plc Earn Its Money?
According to FirstGroup’s corporate report issued May 13, 2009, the company earned nearly
$10 billion in revenues for the previous fiscal year.
Fast Facts
• Greyhound was responsible for over 10%, or nearly
$1 billion, in company revenues
• First Transit/First Services was responsible for over 10%,
or nearly $1 billion, in company revenues
• First Student was responsible for over 25%, or about
$2.5 billion, in company revenues
November 4, 2009
FirstGroup admits £140m taxpayer subsidy
• FirstGroup’s British bus and rail operations were
responsible for over half of company revenues —more
than $5 billion
A British Bailout Bandit?
U.S. Wall Street banks weren’t the
only firms begging for a taxpayer
bailout during the economic
crisis. In November 2009, Britain’s
Guardian newspaper reported
that First demanded and received
Photo: Alex Slobodkin/iStockphoto
nearly $230 million in subsidies
from the UK public treasury when
their rail franchises didn’t turn out
as profitable as expected!
Source: “FirstGroup plc Preliminary results for 12 months to March 31, 2009” Presentation, dated May 13, 2009
* All dollar figures used are U.S. dollars.
www.atu.org
MARCH / APRIL 2010
3
Page 4 — Why FirstGroup Matters
FirstGroup in North america: How transit contracting Works, Why It M
big bus and paratransit
First Transit is the mass transit arm of
FirstGroup, responsible for over 10% of the
multinational corporation’s revenue.
“A transit authority that wants to contract
out its bus or paratransit (disabled) service will
advertise an RFP (or ‘request for proposals’) with
the details,” explains International Executive Vice
President Ron Heintzman.
“First Transit and other transit contractors
submit their proposals. If First has the winning
bid, it will get a contract to provide the service
using First employees in place of public transit
workers.” (In some cases the contract will only
require First Transit to manage a transit system,
in which case only the managers work for First,
while employees still work for the transit agency.)
Transit contracting is a lucrative business.
First Transit earns tens of millions of dollars per
year to provide bus service in major metro areas
Fast Facts
3%
like Denver, Phoenix, Portland and Vancouver –
and holds dozens of smaller contracts across the
United States and Canada to provide not just bus
and paratransit service but also university and
airport shuttles. Most contracts run for years and
have a built-in pay increase for the company of
3% or more each year. According to FirstGroup
corporate reports, First Transit is a billion-dollar
business segment that turned in operating profits
of 7.6% in 2008-09.
Many different labor unions represent First
Transit employees somewhere in the United
States, but ATU has the largest union membership
in First Transit. Still, thousands of First Transit
employees remain unorganized.
why does it matter?
Today more than 10% of North America’s
mass transit service has been outsourced to private
contractors – and that portion is growing. Unlike
publicly operated transit systems, private contractors
like First have to earn a profit. That’s why wages
and benefits for operators employed by private
contract operators are significantly lower than those
employed by public transit authorities. And while
most public mass transit employees are covered by
pensions, private transit contractors today almost
never offer pension benefits – and strive to eliminate
them where they already exist.
first group affects your paycKecK
…Even When You Don’t Work for Them!
The lower wages and benefits offered by forprofit bus contractors like First are a problem
for all of us – even those of us still employed by
public transit authorities. When your local union
enters bargaining with your transit authority,
management always brings up the lower wages
offered by First and others as an argument against
union requests for a decent raise – and often
threatens to contract out YOUR work if you don’t
give them their way!
first student: yellow bus
First Student is the student transportation
arm of FirstGroup. Around four out of 10 yellow
school buses in North America are now operated
by for-profit, private contractors – and First
Student is by far the biggest of the lot. The huge
division employs nearly 70,000 and is responsible
for one-quarter of FirstGroup’s global revenue;
it reported whopping 12.6% profits in 2008-2009.
In a typical First Transit or First
Student contract, the company’s
t a ke f ro m l o c a l t a x p aye rs
increases more than 3% per year.
Did you get a 3% raise this year?
Photo: Jon Patton/iStockphoto
4
IN TRANSIT
www.atu.org
A Special Report for ATU Members – Page 5
Matters, & How It Affects You…Even When You Don’t Work For Them!
Student transportation contracting works
much like mass transit contracting. First Student
will typically sign a contract with a school
district to provide its yellow bus service for
three years or longer, with a built-in payment
increase (usually a little over 3%) each year.
While most mass transit workers in the U.S.
and Canada are represented by the ATU, several
different unions represent school bus drivers.
Nearly 4,000 school bus drivers, escorts and
mechanics at First Student belong to ATU locals.
greyhound
A historic ATU stronghold, most Greyhound
mechanics and almost all Greyhound drivers are
represented by the ATU. “When they bought
Laidlaw, First told us they had bought it for the
school bus and transit,” said Local President
Bruce Hamilton, 1700-Greyhound National.
“They wanted to sell Greyhound off and were
looking for a buyer.” When a buyer proved hard
to come by, they cast about for a new plan.
First’s business strategy for Greyhound? Slash
service to small towns across North America and
lay off hundreds of drivers, concentrating only
on the most profitable routes.
But while the company rapidly contracted
service in the United States, Canadian provincial
governments like Manitoba balked at company
proposals to retain rich intercity routes while
erasing the only transportation option available
for small Northern towns. “In Manitoba the
union, the company and the government
worked out a deal where the province helped
pick up the cost for some difficult-to-serve
areas,” explained Executive Board Member
Eric Carr, 1374-Calgary, AB, who worked on
the deal. The situation in some of the other
provinces remains unresolved.
Still, the service First wasn’t sure it wanted has
emerged as an important part of the FirstGroup
kingdom. The billion-dollar business accounts
for 10% of revenues. Greyhound reported
profits of over 7% in 2008-2009. Greyhound
service has been introduced in Britain as well.
Local officers from ATU locals representing First Group employees gathered at the
Meany Center in Silver Spring, MD, in September 2009, to share their experiences
with First management.
www.atu.org
Fast Facts
Today most FirstGroup transit and
student transportation work in
Canada is performed under the
brand First Bus Canada.
From left, Quiana Howard and Greyhound National Local 1700 members Richard Cloud,
Sam Howard, and Deborah Winters attended the ATU-TWU ‘Save Our Ride’ rally in Atlanta
(see page 7 of magazine).
MARCH / APRIL 2010
5
Page 6 — Why FirstGroup Matters
Fast Facts
FirstGroup: Last in Labor Relations?
Illustration: John Woodcock/iStockphoto
When it comes to school buses operated
in the United States and Canada, FirstGroup
is indisputably #1. And when it comes to
collecting taxpayer dollars through contracts
with mass transit agencies, they are arguably
first among equals, using sharp elbows to
beat out competitors like Veolia and MV
Transportation. But when it comes to worker
fairness, FirstGroup may well be DEAD LAST.
TOP OPERATOR WAGE
attacKing the right to organiZe
While many First Transit and First
Student employees in North
America are still unorganized, almost
all FirstGroup employees back in
Britain belong to trade unions.
When First came to North America, the
company routinely employed union-busting
tactics to keep drivers from forming a union.
They would hold “captive audience” meetings
where management denounced the union and
workers were denied the right to speak. They
would threaten to close if workers voted for a
union, and sometimes even fire drivers who
were active in organizing campaigns.
Photo courtesy of BBC News
When British union workers got
wind of this, they angrily confronted
CEO Moir Lockhead at a FirstGroup
shareholders’ meeting. First agreed
to back off and adopted a more neutral
policy in organizing campaigns, creating
a “freedom of association” policy
and even accepting appointment of
an independent monitor to review
their compliance with U.S. and
Canadian labor law.
Members of the Unite Transport & General
Workers Union wave flags during a “day
of industrial action” against First Bus in
Aberdeen, Scotland, July 16, 2009. A Unite
organizer characterized First’s negotiating
position saying First “...has decided that
a recession means that bus workers
no long need to have pay increases,
especially if this interferes with their ability
to ensure that shareholders get what they
think should be coming to them.”
undercutting wages & benefits
Unlike publicly operated mass transit,
FirstGroup needs to make a profit for its
shareholders. That profit margin comes out of
your wages and benefits!
For example, in metropolitan Denver, half
of the transit district’s bus routes are operated
FIGHT BACK!
6
IN TRANSIT
Illustration: Alex Kalmbach/iStockphoto
Denver RTD - Public
Denver Longmont – First Transit
Denver Commerce City– First Transit
by the Denver RTD, and half are contractedout. In 2009 senior bus drivers employed by
RTD earned nearly $20 per hour, and received
a pension on retirement; senior bus drivers at
First Transit earn only $16 per hour and have
no pension.
moir locKhead ’ s magic tricK
First Makes Your Contract Disappear
“So one day the manager announces that
the First Transit company handbook – not the
contract – is going to dictate how things were
done at the property,” said Local President
Kathleen Custer, 1576-Lynwood, WA. But
Custer was not about to let the company take
away hard-won work rules, and filed an Unfair
Labor Practice (ULP) charge with the United
States National Labor Relations Board.
If FirstGroup management tries to prevent you from exercising your legal right to talk to employees about
joining a union, contact the ATU International Headquarters in Washington DC. The ATU will assist you in filing
www.atu.org
complaints with both the independent monitor and the appropriate labor board in the United States or Canada.
A Special Report for ATU Members – Page 7
FIGHT BACK!
“Sister Custer is exactly right,” explains
International Executive Vice President Ron
Heintzman. “The drivers voted for union
representation, and the company can’t just
change the rules whenever they feel like it
anymore. That’s the whole point of having a
union – the company has to bargain with you
and your elected representatives if they want
to change something on the job.”
FirstGroup’s corporate office has tried to
push aside ATU contracts across the country
the same way. But where the local union has
filed a ULP or demanded arbitration, the
company has been stopped dead in its tracks.
If Sir Moir tries to make YOUR contract
disappear, speak up – fast!
wage theft
Unpaid Labor and Undercounted Hours
In January 2010, First Student paid $1.5
million to settle a lawsuit by former employees
in Maryland who charged the company with
systematically evading required overtime pay.
First Student drivers in Little Rock, AR, have
filed a similar class action, asserting that they
were made to perform tasks like pre- and posttrip inspections off the clock. Indeed, such ‘wage
theft’ seems to be epidemic at First Student.
“I went almost a year without a single
correct paycheck,” explained First Student
driver Julie Jacobson. A member of Local
1733-Vernon Hills, IL, Jacobson found herself
routinely shorted when the company paid her at
the wrong rate – or not at all for time spent tied
up with her bus in unexpected traffic. “At one
point they owed me $700. I was back every pay
period with my union rep to get things fixed.”
Charles Murtaugh, of Montana’s Local 381
agreed. “Here in Bozeman we are constantly
having to file claims for unpaid wages. It got so
bad that the union bought a copier for the break
room so that every driver could photocopy their
time sheets before submitting them!”
In a notorious series of incidents,
FirstGroup hired a private vendor
to conduct secretive, sweeping
background checks on their workers,
and then fired multiple employees by
mail based on the vendor’s findings.
Under the US Fair Credit Reporting
Act and similar provincial laws in
Canada, employees must be given
employment discrimination
Julie Jacobson, 1733 - Vernon Hills, IL, “went almost
a year without a single correct paycheck” from First
Student.
Fast Facts
Illustration: Denis Zorin/iStockphoto
Keep a careful personal record of your time worked in a
notebook or log. Don’t be intimidated by a boss who tries to
discourage you from claiming wages you are owed!
FirstGroup affiliates have repeatedly faced
discrimination charges. Under the U.S. Civil
Rights Act of 1964, it is unlawful to discriminate
against employees or job applicants because of
their race or gender. However, even after First
Group settled a lawsuit filed in Mississippi
by the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC), continuing problems
were reported. As of April 2010, First Student
was named in EEOC complaints in Louisiana
and California.
a chance to review and correct any
errors in such information before
the company acts on it. In 2009
the ATU assisted First Student and
First Transit drivers in pursuing class
action lawsuits against the company
to bring an end to this practice.
These cases are still in court.
FIGHT BACK!
FirstGroup’s low wages and benefits hurt transit riders as much as transit workers. You can’t pay the lowest wages in the
industry and expect to retain dedicated, quality employees! Make sure riders, transit board members and elected officials
www.atu.orgunderstand that money that should be providing service is instead being sent overseas to FirstGroup’s
MARCH
/ APRIL 2010
British stockholders.
7
Page 8 — Why FirstGroup Matters
Fighting Back
who’s the boss? you are!
You may think of your local manager as your
boss – but do you realize you are HIS boss too? First
Transit, First Student, and First Canada are hired
by transit authorities and school boards to operate
buses and paratransit vans on their behalf. But
many transit boards and school boards have elected
members, and most of the others are appointed by
other people you elect. In other words, these people
work for YOU! And they are spending YOUR tax
dollars. Make sure they are doing it responsibly.
Terri Skripsky of Local 1733 addresses school
board members in Kenosha, Wisconsin about
her employer, First Student.
help write your boss’s contract!
Get involved in the ‘RFP’ process at your transit
or school board.
Your transit authority or school board
issues the request for proposals (or “RFP”) and
negotiates the contract with the FirstGroup unit
that employs you – and has the power to include
whatever conditions they want in that contract,
within the limits of the law. If you weigh in
early, while they are writing their advertisement
or contract, you can often persuade them to
put conditions in the contract that protect the
interests of drivers and the public.
Renford Thomas, 279-Ottawa, on , helps
rider Lisa Hamlyn off of a Para Transpro vehicle.
Last year, Local 279 convinced the city to bring
the service back in-house.
“You can’t hold onto good drivers if you pay
poverty wages,” says Local President Jonathan
Hunt, 757-Portland, OR. “That’s why we have
worked hard to get transit authorities and school
boards in Oregon to adopt
living wage requirements
in their RFPs. That way no
one – not First, not anyone
else – can come in and hope
to pad their profit margin by
paying substandard wages.”
Many local unions across the
country have advanced similar
living wage or prevailing
wage language, “responsible
contractor” provisions, or
clauses requiring a new
contractor coming in to
give hiring preference to
Students at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa played a crucial
role in pressuring the university and First Transit into negotiating a good
incumbent drivers.
community outreach
Get by with a little help from your friends.
Sometimes your local members alone can’t
muster the pressure to get your school board or
transit authority to act. That’s when you have to do
some hard thinking about what groups CAN give
you that leverage, and try to cooperate with them.
At the University of Alabama, First Transit
insisted that campus shuttle drivers should be
satisfied with poverty-level wages. The drivers
reached out to the students they transported to
put pressure on the university to intervene.
“The students leafleted friends and professors
urging them to contact the university president and
ask for justice,” explained bargaining committee
member Tia Brown. After several weeks of
efforts by the drivers and the students to expose
First Transit’s excessive profits at the university’s
expense, the university administration told the
company they needed to reach a fair settlement
with the drivers or First would lose the contract.
Instead of settling for the 1% raise First had put
on the table, the drivers won double-digit wage
increases in the first year of their first contract!
insourcing
How Ottawa residents got paratransit back.
Public transit should be operated in the public
interest. Perhaps the best outcome is persuading your
transit system to end for-profit contracting altogether
and bring the service in-house. That’s what Local
279-Ottawa, ON, accomplished in 2009.
After years of demonstrating quality issues with
the paratransit service provided by First Transit, the
local union assembled a proposal for OC Transpo
to perform the work itself using union labor. “We
showed the city that by cutting out First Transit’s
profit margin we could use part of the money to
give the drivers a pension and put the balance into
expanded service,” said Local 279 Vice President
Mike Aldrich. “It was a win for us and a win for
disabled and elderly Ottawa residents!”
first contract with the ATU Crimson Ride drivers in March 2010.
FIGHT BACK!
8
IN TRANSIT
Some FirstGroup supervisors have actually tried to tell drivers that as employees they aren’t allowed to attend public
meetings of their school or transit board. Don’t be fooled! Citizens of the United States and Canada have a legal
www.atu.org
right to attend public meetings and petition their elected officials – and that’s EXACTLY what FirstGroup is afraid of!
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS:
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT AMENDED
T
he Americans with Disability Act (ADA) Amendments Act was signed
into law on September 25, 2008, and became effective on January 1,
2009. To fully grasp how the ADA Amendments Act clarified who should
be entitled to the law’s civil rights protections, it is important to understand
why the ADA needed amending in the first place.
WHY DID THE ADA NEED AMENDINg?
The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in
employment. When it was passed in 1990, Congress expected that the ADA
would provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination
of discrimination against individuals with a disability and provide broad
coverage. This expectation, however, was neither fulfilled by the courts nor the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) ADA regulations.
The ADA defined an individual with a disability as someone who: (1) has
a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major
life activities; (2) has a record of such an impairment; or (3) is regarded as
having such an impairment.
In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court began to narrow the definition of
disability in unexpected ways, running afoul of the intent of Congress when
it initially passed the ADA. That year, in Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc.,
the U.S. Supreme Court held that, when determining whether an individual
has a disability under the ADA, consideration must be given to the effects of
mitigating measures – such as corrective lenses, medications, hearing aids, and
prosthetic devices – when deciding whether an impairment is substantially
limiting.
The Supreme Court in Sutton thus required a more restrictive view of
that part of the definition, which in effect eliminated protections for many
individuals whom Congress intended to protect.
In another case by the U.S. Supreme Court a few years later, Toyota Motor
Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc., v. Williams, the Court further narrowed
the application of the term “substantially” and reduced the broad scope of
protection Congress intended to be afforded by the ADA.
The EEOC’s ADA regulations also prompted Congress to take action
to revise the ADA – the EEOC defined the term “substantially limits” as
“significantly restricted,” which was inconsistent with congressional intent
as it expressed too high of a standard.
PURPOsEs OF THE ADA AMENDMENTs AcT
The goal of the ADA Amendments Act is to send the message that the
definition of disability should be construed in favor of broad coverage of
individuals to the maximum extent permitted by the terms of the ADA. The
effect of these changes, in other words, is to make it easier for an individual
seeking protection under the ADA to establish that he or she has a disability
within the meaning of the ADA.
While the ADA Amendments Act retains the ADA’s basic definition of
“disability,” it changes the way the statutory term should be interpreted in
several ways. Most significantly, the ADA Amendments Act:
• Eliminates the requirement that mitigating measures be considered
when determining whether a person meets the definition of
disability;
• Rejects the standard that the term “substantially” needs to be strictly
interpreted because such creates a demanding standard for qualifying
as person with a disability;
• Changes the definition of “regarded as” so that it no longer
requires a showing that the employer perceived the individual to be
substantially limited by a major life activity; and
• Conveys Congress’ expectation that the EEOC will revise its
definition of “substantially limits.”
DIsABILITY DIscRIMINATION & THE
EqUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY cOMMIssION
The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal
to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the
person’s, among other things, disability. Although the ADA Amendments
Act is not some revolutionary new law – it simply attempts to restore the
law back to what Congress intended it to be when it originally passed the
ADA – the EEOC has taken on the task of revising its ADA regulations
and accompanying interpretive guidance in order to implement the ADA
Amendments Act. The EEOC is, in fact, aiming to publish its final rule by
July 2010. Workers should be aware that new EEOC regulations are expected
to be published this summer.
With this background in mind, Congress determined that the ADA
needed to be amended.
www.atu.org
MAY / JUNE 2010
9
— LEGISLATIVE REPORT —
Emergency Operating Assistance
Bill Introduced in Senate
W
ith the full support of the ATU, on May 25, Senator Christopher
Dodd, D-CT, introduced the Public Transportation Preservation
Act of 2010. The bill was designed to address a growing mobility crisis
that is impacting almost every community in America.
It would provide $2 billion for emergency support of public
transportation agencies nationwide, allowing them to reverse or avoid deep
service cuts, steep fare increases, and life-altering layoffs that are crippling
American families. Senators Robert Menendez, D-NJ; Dick Durbin, D-IL;
Charles Schumer, D-NY; Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ; Sherrod Brown, D-OH;
Jack Reed, D-RI; and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY; cosponsored the legislation.
International President Warren S. George endorsed the legislation
stating, “Affordable, convenient public transit keeps cars off the road,
reduces traffic and congestion and improves the air quality in our
communities. Since January 2009, six out of ten public transit systems in
the U.S. have cut service, raised fares, or both; thousands of transit workers
have been laid off; and millions of commuters have less access to public
transportation. Without emergency action, the problem will get worse
– seven out of 10 transit systems are facing deficits in the coming year.”
Dodd, the outgoing chair of the Senate Banking Committee who is
retiring from Congress at the end of this year, is desperately trying to
move the bill before more service cuts occur. “While families continue to
struggle to make ends meet the last thing we should do is make it harder
and more expensive for people to get to work. This bill will prevent
disruptive service cuts and help put money back in the pockets of families
when they need it most,” said Dodd.
The $2 billion provided for emergency relief would hopefully close
funding gaps in operating costs. Transit agencies could use the funds
to reduce fare increases, rehire workers, and restore services that were
cut after January 2009, or to prevent future service cuts, layoffs, or fare
increases through September 2011. Agencies that have not increased fares
or cut services and do not plan to do so may use the funds for capital
improvements, such as the purchase of buses.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-CT, has worked
closely with the ATU in introducing the
emergency operating assistance legislation.
The bill could fill nationwide gaps in transit
operating funding.
10
IN TRANSIT
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, spoke at the ATUCTAA rally in March advocating his own bill
which would provide transit properties with
the flexibility to use a portion of their federal
support for operating expenses.
Over 4,000 Laid-Off
More than 4,000 workers in the public transportation industry have
been laid off since the beginning of 2009 – a significant percentage of a
“green” workforce. According to a recent industry survey, since January
1, 2009, 84% of transit systems have raised fares, cut service or are
considering either of those actions. Nearly seven in 10 project budget
shortfalls in their next fiscal year.
One place hit particularly hard has been the city of Chicago. Since 2009,
the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has laid-off 1,099 ATU members and
made significant cuts on the bus side. “Nearly two million daily riders and
more than 15,000 employees in the Chicago area have been impacted by
budget shortfalls caused by the recession,” said Senator Durbin. “Today’s
bill will help Chicago and 13 other transit agencies across Illinois avoid
layoffs and prevent drastic service cuts and fare hikes this summer.”
Simply No Other Option
Under current law, the majority of transit systems do not have the
flexibility to use their federal funds for operating assistance. Therefore,
while many agencies have purchased new buses, they do not have the
ability to put such vehicles into service. Federal operating assistance is
needed to help keep the buses rolling in our communities. For many
transit-dependent people, especially seniors and people with disabilities,
there is simply no other option.
With concern over the national debt increasing, passing the bill will
be an uphill battle. ATU ran radio ads in several states over the trafficclogged Memorial Day weekend urging Republican senators to support
the legislation.
The ads drew a link between heavy traffic and air pollution and urged
the public to support transit operating aid. ATU members are highly
encouraged to contact their senators and urge them to cosponsor the Public
Transportation Preservation Act of 2010, Senate Bill Number 3412.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, center, one of
the co-sponsors of the emergency operating
assistance legislation, met with the New York
delegation to the ATU Legislative Conference
in March.
One of the co-sponsors of the emergency
operating assistance bill, Sen. Kirsten
Gillibrand, D-NY, met with the New York
delegates to the ATU Legislative Conference
in March.
www.atu.org
Canadian Agenda
how do you get to ‘transit city?’
P
ublic transit continues to be a hot topic in urban Canada, and the
ATU is a central player in that discussion. The hottest rhetoric is
coming out of Toronto, where the never-ending debate on transit planning
and funding has become a factor in the mayoral race.
The issue took center stage in late April when the Ontario government
decided to cut promised funding for provincial transit improvements by
$4 billion. This would have an adverse effect on Toronto’s “Transit City”
program which envisions the municipality as a model of urban mobility.
Metrolinx President Rob Prichard argues that’s not the case, and
that Metrolinx is investing too much money up front not to make these
projects a reality.
Money
Whatever the outcome, Ottawa’s budget shortfall is bedevilling
provincial transit planning just as surely as state and local deficits are
crippling American transit systems.
Retiring Mayor David Miller was furious, and in a letter written to
Ontario’s Premier Dalton McGuinty, he insisted, “The plan for Transit City
that the premier envisioned is not what Metrolinx (the province’s transit
planning arm) is going to build.” Miller said the premier and province needed
to go back to the original plan, or the entire project could be in jeopardy.
All of this is happening against the backdrop of a Toronto mayoral
campaign, and candidates have felt compelled to advance their own transit
plans prior to the election. The obvious problem for each candidate is to
come up with a credible way of funding transit in Toronto.
ATU Canadian Director Robin West also responded, April 29,
asserting, “The Ontario provincial government’s decision to cancel
previously promised funding for public transit is shortsighted and foolish.
These cuts will have a negative impact on transit systems throughout
Ontario.”
Solutions?
The Canadian Council urged the provincial government to reinstate
funding levels for public transit immediately.
A Compromise?
Backroom talks between the TTC, the province and Metrolinx ensued,
resulting in a rough compromise: Much of the original Transit City plan
would be completed within 10 years (instead of eight).
But, the mayor was not appeased. He contended that everything after
2015 might as well have been unfunded because the promised money
wasn’t there yet. And so, he warned, the province was effectively denying
transit to the inner suburbs which need it most:
Two candidates say they’re open to letting Metrolinx take over all
or part of the TTC, thus passing that expense on to an external public
agency. But that plan has met with strong opposition from those who
believe that Toronto transit must remain under Toronto’s control.
Congestion taxes and road tolls have also been suggested as a way
of funding transit, getting people out of their cars and improving the
environment. But, taxes and tolls are about as popular in Canada as they
are in the United States.
‘Ad Hocery’
While the search for a workable transit solution continues, a certain
amount of frustration is building among the nation’s mayors who
would like to see a little more orderly process developed with regard to
infrastructure projects.
“It is not honest to say to Torontonians that the Finch and Scarborough
RT are going to go ahead when there isn’t a funding commitment for
it. That is the fact,” Miller said. “There’s no money for those lines. And
those lines are essential.
“It’s time for a clearer picture of who does what for cities. Right
now, we have an ‘ad hocery’ – a little bit of this, and a little bit of that,”
Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion said. “We need an agreement right
now to determine the responsibilities of the three levels of government
and how they will be financed.
“All the money on offer will do is build part of an Eglinton LRT. That’s
all. So you’ll get essentially a subway from Leaside to Forest Hill, . . . but
people in Jane-Finch, Rexdale and Scarborough, particularly Scarborough,
are not going to get the transportation they need,” Miller declared.
Such an agreement would be a historic accomplishment for Canada’s
municipalities. It could lead to the development of stable, long-term
funding sources for Canada’s transit systems – something needed in both
of our countries.
www.atu.org
MAY / JUNE 2010
11
21st Annual Latino Caucus Conference
September 25, 2010 • Disney’s Contemporary Resort • Lake Buena Vista, FL
LOCATION
Disney’s Contemporary Resort
4600 North World Drive
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
(407) 824-3869
ROOM RATES
$185.00, plus (12.5% tax)
Room block is under
“Amalgamated Transit Union”
Reservations must be made by August 9, 2010
CONFERENCE
REGISTRATION
Members & associate members:
$100.00 registration due by September 1, 2010
Late registration $125.00
For more information, please visit the ATU Latino Caucus website at www.atulc.org.
Questions?
Please call Latino Caucus Recording Secretary Corina DeLaTorre at (916) 955-0078 or Treasurer David Benavides at (210) 924-9718.
BECOME A BOOSTER
We would like to invite you to consider signing up as a Latino Caucus Booster in this year’s souvenir ad journal. This is a $5.00 (US currency only) donation to
the Latino Caucus, which would put your name, and local and/or LC chapter in the 2010 ad journal as a show of support and encouragement. Publication cut-off
date is August 15, 2010. Proceeds will go toward offsetting the costs of an exciting and successful conference, and allow us to keep our registration costs low
to better enable participation from members at large.
Chicago Local to Hold Golf Outing, Scholarship Dinner/Dance
A
TU Local 308-Chicago, IL, will hold a Golf
Outing and Scholarship Dinner/Dance, on
August 14. The Golfing will start at 8:00 am with
a shotgun format. There will be a continental
breakfast served and a “mulligan lunch.” This
will all take place at Tamarack Golf Course in
Naperville.
The golf outing will be followed by a dinner/
dance, starting at 6:00 pm with an hour-long open
bar and appetizers. Dinner will be from 7:00 –
8:00 pm, followed by another hour-long open bar.
Local 308 will award three scholarships at the
event:
First Place: $2,500.00
Second Place: $1,750.00
Third Place: $1,000.00.
For information on the scholarship and how to
participate call the union office at 312-782-4665
and get an application.
Accommodations have been arranged at the
Holiday Inn Select in Naperville for $69.00
12
IN TRANSIT
and/or $79.00 per night for either Friday, August
13, and/or Saturday, August 14. A hospitality
Room will be provided.
Prices for the event are as follows:
Dinner dance only
$65.00 per person/$130.00 per couple
Golf/Diner package
$175.00 per person
Ticket availability is limited. Join Local 308 for
a night filled with surprises. For more information
contact: Local 308 at 312-782-4665, and ask for
Office Manager Dianne Jones, or Local President
Robert Kelly.
www.atu.org
George: Transit Jobs Are Green Jobs
International President Addresses ‘Green Jobs, Good Jobs Conference’
I
nternational President Warren S. George addressed the Green Jobs, Good
Jobs National Conference in Washington, DC, on May 4. The ATU is a
member of Blue-Green Alliance which sponsored the conference attended
by union members, environmentalists, business leaders, lawmakers and
administration officials to map out a path to “a green economy that creates
good jobs, reduces global warming and preserves America’s economic and
environmental security.”
International President George made the case for mass transportation
as a crucial part of the effort to clean up the environment and create jobs.
Bus and subway operators, mechanics, track workers and their colleagues
perform green jobs, he said.
“Public transit annually saves 1.4 billion gallons of oil by taking cars
off the road,” George stated, adding, “One motorcoach is six times more
fuel-efficient than passenger cars.”
The international president also pointed out that every $1 billion spent
on public transportation creates 60,000 new jobs. He called on Congress
to quickly pass climate change legislation that includes substantial
investment in mass transit.
Trumka: Mass Transit a Key
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka also addressed the conference,
and echoed George’s sentiments, asserting that one of the key elements of
creating a green economy would be building “green jobs/energy saving,
centers on mass transit and high speed rail.
“Our nation’s subways, light rail and commuter rail lines are in urgent
need of repair and expansion,” he said.
With the oil platform explosion that killed 11 workers spilling millions
of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico as a sobering background, Trumka
told the delegates, “Never before has the need been so urgent to produce
clean energy, to use energy more efficiently to prevent climate change
and to protect our natural environment.
“And not since the Great Depression have so many Americans needed
new and better jobs with secure benefits and promising futures – jobs
that can’t be off-shored, downsized or downgraded into temporary or
part-time positions.”
Trumka said it’s time to “put to rest, once and for all the false choice
between good jobs and clean air and water.”
Pelosi: Future Prosperity Depends on Green Jobs
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi also spoke to the conference
declaring that the future prosperity of the country depends on our ability
to create good, green jobs and clean energy. Speaking at the opening
plenary she said clean energy jobs are one way to put people back to work
and address the problem of chronic unemployment.
“We must train the next generation of workers in the good-paying
jobs of the 21st century. And clean energy jobs are one way to do just
www.atu.org
International President Warren S. George: “Public transit annually saves 1.4 billion gallons of
oil by taking cars off the road. One motorcoach is six times more fuel-efficient than passenger cars.”
that,” she said, “We know our recovery and our prosperity depend on
making the United States first in clean energy. For our economy and our
workers, America must be first.”
Solis: Workers Most Valuable Asset
U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis told participants that “while the
steps we have taken over the past year have begun to put the economy
back on the right track, we still have a lot of work to do.” Together we
must “invest, innovate, and act” to restart our economy.
“Our workers are our nation’s most valuable asset,” Solis stated, “and
it is critical that as we invest in clean energy jobs, we ensure they are
good jobs for everyone.”
Environment and Energy Bill Blocked by Filibuster
Much of the effort at the conference was meant to push the Senate into
debating and voting on the environment and energy bill. The measure
designed to cut carbon emissions that lead to global warming while
encouraging energy development – including traditional sources such as
oil and coal and alternatives such as wind, geothermal and solar. The bill
is part of labor’s five-point platform to restore “an economy that makes
things.” It’s also a top Obama administration goal.
But the measure has hit, as usual, a planned Republican filibuster in
the Senate, plus strong opposition from the coal and oil industries. And
the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico forced Obama to reconsider
one key section of the bill, encouraging offshore oil drilling.
Those problems didn’t dissuade the union leaders or their allies.
“Working together with the Blue-Green Alliance, we can rebuild
America’s middle class,” said Laborers President Terry O’Sullivan, one in
a parade of union speakers, including Steelworkers President Leo Gerard,
Communications Workers President Larry Cohen, Utility Workers
President Mike Langford and Chief of Staff Stewart Acuff.
MAY / JUNE 2010
13
LOCAL 587 - Seattle, WA
Clallam Transit System
Local President Paul Bachtel and International Vice President Don Hansen report settlement.
TERM:
5 years 1/1/10 - 12/31/14
WAGES:
TOOL ALLOW.:
Top Operator
7/1/10 - 1% - 21¢ - $21.56
COLA DETERMINED BY CPI
1/1/11 - 1% - 6%
1/1/12 - 1% - 6%
1/1/13 - 1% - 6%
1/1/14 - 1% - 6%
WAGES:
HOLIDAYS:
Top Operator
1/1/10 - 2% - 27¢ - $13.44
1/1/11 - 2% - 27¢ - $13.71
1/1/12 - 2% - 28¢ - $13.99
Top Mechanic
1/1/10 - 2% - 32¢ - $16.32
1/1/11 - 2% - 33¢ - $16.65
1/1/12 - 2% - 33¢ - $16.98
Add (1) personal day each year
TOOL ALLOW.: Increased tool allowance
MEAL ALLOW.: Increased meal allowance
Top Mechanic
7/1/10 - 1% - 23¢ - $22.98
COLA DETERMINED BY CPI
1/1/11 - 1% - 6%
1/1/12 - 1% - 6%
NOTE:
1/1/13 - 1% - 6%
1/1/14 - 1% - 6%
The contract was ratified by a vote of 23 to 1.
LOCAL 1385 - Springfield, OH
Springfield City Area Transit
Local President Claude Huff and International Vice President Bob Baker report settlement.
$400 (was $250)
LOCAL 587 - Seattle, WA
Paratransit Services
Local President Paul Bachtel and International Vice President Don Hansen report settlement.
TERM:
3 years 1/1/10 - 12/31/12
WAGES:
Top Operator
1/1/10 - 2% - 31¢ - $15.43
BASED ON CPI
1/1/11 - 2% - 5%
NOTE:
Employer provides free bus pass to employees
1/1/12 - 2% - 5%
TERM:
1 year
1/1/10 - 12/31/10
WAGES:
Top Operator
1/1/10 - 2% - 31¢ - $15.29
Top Mechanic
1/1/10 - 2% - 33¢ - $16.45
BONUS:
$300 ratification bonus
NOTE:
Add option of 4/10 shift
Other city employees received a pay freeze
LOCAL 1596 - Orlando, FL
MV Transportation
Local President Paul Wilson and International Vice President Gary Rauen report settlement.
LOCAL 587 - Seattle, WA
First Transit (Call Center)
Local President Paul Bachtel and International Vice President Don Hansen report first agreement.
TERM:
5 years 3/1/10 - 3/31/14
WAGES:
Scheduler
4/1/10 - $22.78
4/1/11 - $23.46
4/1/12 - $24.17
4/1/13 - $24.89
LOCAL 812 - Clarksburg, WV
Central West Virginia Transit Authority
Local President Jerry Martin and International Vice President Bob Baker report settlement.
TERM:
3 years 7/1/09 - 6/30/12
WAGES:
Top Operator
7/1/09 - - - - - $14.14
7/1/10 - 4% - 56¢ - $14.70
7/1/11 - 4% - 59¢ - $15.29
Top Mechanic
7/1/09 - - - - - $16.83
7/1/10 - 4% - 67¢ - $17.50
7/1/11 - 4% - 70¢ - $18.20
LOCAL 1164 - Knoxville, TN
K-Trans Management, Inc.
Local President Mary Crider and International Vice President Javier Perez report settlement.
TERM:
3 years 7/1/09 - 6/30/12
WAGES:
Top Operator
7/1/09 - $17.55
7/1/10 - $17.99
Top Mechanic
7/1/09 - $18.12
7/1/10 - $18.58
7/1/11 - $18.53
7/1/11 - $19.13
Red Rose Transit Authority
Local President Joseph Dundore and International Vice President Larry Hanley report settlement.
3 year
WAGES:
Top Operator
6/1/09 - - - - - $19.87
6/1/10 - 3% - 59¢ - $20.46
6/1/09 - 5/31/12
6/1/11 - 3% - 61¢ - $21.07
Top Mechanic
6/1/09 - - - - - $22.25
6/1/10 - 3% - 66¢ - $22.91
LOCAL 1700 - Atlanta, GA
Southeastern Stages
Local President Bruce Hamilton and International Vice President Larry Hanley report settlement.
TERM:
3 years 1/1/10 - 2/1/13
WAGES:
PROBATION:
Top Operator
2/1/10 - 2% - 25¢ - $12.50
2/1/11 - 2% - 25¢ - $12.75
2/1/12 - 2% - 25¢ - $13.00
Top Mechanic
2/1/10 - 2% - 39¢ - $19.83
2/1/11 - 2% - 40¢ - $20.23
2/1/12 - 2% - 41¢ - $20.64
Increased to 105 days
H & W:
75% employer contribution
HRA of $1,700 for individuals, $1,000 for dependents
SICK LEAVE:
2 (sick days) in second year of contract
3 (sick days) in third year of contract
LOCAL 1763 - Hartford, CT
Local President LaVerne Spinks-Hatcher and International Vice President Richard Murphy
report first agreement.
TERM:
2 years 3/1/10 - 3/31/12
WAGES:
Top Operator
3/1/10 - 2.8% - 40¢ - $14.43
3/1/11 - 2.8% - 40¢ - $14.83
VACATION:
Add new step: 4 weeks after 20 years of service
HOLIDAYS:
Add Martin Luther King day (7 total)
SICK LEAVE:
3 days (6 days maximum accrual)
6/1/11 - 3% - 69¢ - $23.60
MV Transportation
Local President Wayne Baker and International Vice President Bob Baker report settlement.
Grand Island Transit Corporation
Local President Vincent Crehan and International Vice President Bob Baker report settlement.
IN TRANSIT
7/1/2012 - 3%
LOCAL 1764 - Beltsville/Capitol Heights, MD
LOCAL 1342 - Buffalo, NY
14
Top Operator
7/1/2010 - 3%
7/1/2011 - 3%
NOTE: Contract unanimously ratified by a vote of 5 to 0
TERM:
3 years 1/1/10 - 12/31/12
3 years 10/29/09 - 9/30/12
WAGES:
First Transit (Reservationist Unit)
LOCAL 1241 - Lancaster, PA
TERM:
TERM:
TERM:
3 years 1/14/10 - 1/14/13
WAGES:
Top Operator
1/14/10 - 11.7% - $1.40 - $15.00
1/14/11 - 6.6% - $1.00 - $16.00
1/14/12 - 2.0% - 32¢ - $16.32
OVERTIME:
Time and one half for time in excess of 40/hour week
NOTE:
Training pay premium to 75¢/hour (was 50¢ hour)
Gained representation rights for Silver Spring, MD call center employees
www.atu.org
In Memoriam
Death Benefits Awarded March 1, 2010 - April 30, 2010
1- MEMBERs AT LARgE
GEORGE A CRYE
DORIS E CUSICK
EDWIN F KELLISON
ARDEN H LUKE
CHARLES E MC COY
WAYNE B PETERS
JAMES EMERY RYAN
GEORGE E SUTTON
22- WORcEsTER, MA
EDWARD E RYAN JR
26- DETROIT, MI
JAMES ASHLEY
EDWARD J MALINOWSKI
85- PITTsBURgH, PA
JOHN BAXTER
DOMINIC CHIAVERINI
PAUL G FOBES
JOHN C HERRINGTON
FRANK T KINCH
LAWRENCE M MCCARTHY
WALTER J MCDERMITT
REGIS MOZICK
ROBERT F MULIG
HOWARD E ORGAN
JAMES W PRINKEY JR
JAMES ROWLAND JR
KENNETH SCHUCHERT SR
ROBERT STANCEL
JACK W STEPHENSON
WALTER W WEIMANN
LYNN WRIGHT
107- HAMILTON, ON
DONALD G SHEPHERD
113- TORONTO, ON
JAMES J A ALLAN
HERBERT BAKER
KENNETH EDWARD BISHOP
LUIGI BRUSATIN
FEDERICO CARE
CORRADO CRESPI
GEORGE CULL
KENNETH DAVIS
FREDERICK W DEACON
WILLIAM DUNLOP
RONALD L FAVA
KENNETH H FLOWERS
GEORGE R GRANDISON
GEORGE GLENN HARDING
NORMAN LEONARD HESLOP
FREDERICK HORNCASTLE
LEWIS J IRELAND
ANGELO ITALIANO
PATRICK J KINNEY
PHILIP MARCOTTE
WILLIAM MARTIN
NEIL MASTERSON
WILLIAM H MC CULLOUGH
RAFFAELE MELITO
LUIGI MONACO
THOMAS W PEARSON
GEORGE SCHLEI JR
FRED SWITZER
VINCENT TARANTINO
KENNETH THOMPSON
WILLIAM JOHN WELSH
ARTHUR G WILLIAMS
ROBESON WILLIAMS
FREDERICK W WOODALL
164- WILKEs-BARRE, PA
THOMAS L KOSHINSKI
www.atu.org
192- OAKLAND, cA
GUNELDA E EIRISH
ROBERT J GARDINIER
GEORGE R MESPELLI
RICHARD H RUDE
ELLSWORTH L YOUNG
241- cHIcAgO, IL
MICHAEL ATKINS
EUGENE J BRACH
CARL A BROWN
HERDISENE CHILLIS
CHARLES DAVIS
GUILLERMO DELRIO
WILLIE J ESPER
NANCY E FREEMAN
RAY S HELM
ANNIE HILL
ANDREW HOWARD
RONALD JACKSON
EDWARD J KAMINSKI
JOHN W KNIGHTEN
JOHNNIE M LYNCH
ROBERT E MARTIN
CLEOPHUS MCGEE
MARTIN M MORRISON
DANIEL F NONCEK
TYRONE PEPPERS
LONNIE PERRYMAN JR
KATHERINE S ROBINSON
OLLIE T RODGERS JR
FELIX RODRIGUEZ
JACK SCURTE
BRIAN THOMAS
RALPH N VOLGARINO
ALEX WATSON JR
SEFTON L WILLIAMSON
256- sAcRAMENTO, cA
DELBERT L WAITE
265- sAN JOsE, cA
VINCENT L BREON
MICHAEL F BROWN
DAN W HARRIS
ROBERT DWAIN HUNT
SALVADOR D MEDINA
LARRY D RUSSELL
JOHN S SHAHEED
WILLIAM M VARGAS SR
425- HARTFORD, cT
ARTHUR E WOOD
690- FITcHBURg, MA
EDITH M MAGUY
1001- DENVER, cO
VAUGHN T GRIFFIN
NICHOLAS TATEO
ERNEST L WILSON
448- sPRINgFIELD, MA
KENNETH B CHAPIN JR
694- sAN ANTONIO, TX
ARTHUR BOBBY THOMAS
ANTONIO J VALDEZ
1005- MINNEAPOLIs
& sT. PAUL, MN
WILLIAM A GIOSSI
WALLACE S MOEN
JOHN S TRUHLER
ELI L WYLIE
1336- BRIDgEPORT, cT
DONALD VINSON
JOANN WIERZBICKI
508- HALIFAX, Ns
STEVE Z CSEH
JOHN HENRY PAW
569- EDMONTON, AB
LESTER O JOHNSON
583- cALgARY, AB
VERNON A GRAHAM
EDWARD L HARWOOD
DAVID LADOUCEUR
CHATENDRA N SHARMA
587- sEATTLE, WA
JAY N BREEN
MICHAEL S BUCHANAN
EDWARD E COWART
FRANK C ENGDAHL
JAMES E PATTERSON
588- REgINA, sK
ERVIN DARRELL WRIGHT
589- BOsTON, MA
GARY P BUBLUSKI
BERTHA M CLINES
MARCELLO A ELICONE
FRANCIS X GOULET
WILLIAM J HARDY
RALPH S HOUSE
UGO L IANNETTI
WILLIAM J IRVINE
JOSEPH P LOSI
LAMONT MC LAUGHLIN
GEORGE F MURPHY
BARBARA A ROGOWSKI
KEVIN M WALSH
591- HULL, Pq
JASMIN RIVEST
PASCAL VILLENEUVE
618- PROVIDENcE, RI
JOHN W O’BRIEN
268- cLEVELAND, OH
HATTIE GORDAN
JOSEPH MILLER JR
627- cINcINNATI, OH
CHARLES M GUSSETT
FRANCIS C SPEECE
279- OTTAWA, ON
FROOGH MOTTAGHI
AMBROSE PAQUETTE
PATRICK J SUMMERS
689- WAsHINgTON, Dc
ALEX BERGER
JAMES DONOVAN BUSH
WILLIAM E CLIFFORD
KENNETH DARBY
AUDLEY L ELCOCK
JEFFREY G GARRARD
THERESA M GARY
NORMAN EARL GOODWIN
LEWIS GUIDO JR
JOHN T HUFF
IRA EDWARD JOHNSON
RAYMOND FRANK KROK SR
THOMAS J LAVEZZO
THEODORE MARTIN
EUGENE F NEAL
SUNG D OH
JORDAN PINKNEY
WILLIAM SEXTON JR
ERIC E TOATLEY
VELCIE K WALSH
281- NEW HAVEN, cT
AQUILA VINCENT DELL
282- ROcHEsTER, NY
FREDERICK C BODE II
ROBERT J SARDIS
308- cHIcAgO, IL
MAUDE B LAMBERT
ELWOOD LATHAM
FREDERICK MC COLLOUGH
RAMON NUNO
CHRISTINE PEEBLES
JAMILLAH R SIMMS
BERNARD TOWNSEND
DONALD WHITE
697- TOLEDO, OH
FRED L HADDAD JR
CHARLES F SMITH
713- MEMPHIs, TN
PORTRIS O DAVIS
BRIGETTE M RAGLAND
726- sTATEN IsLAND, NY
ANTHONY MILONE
MICHAEL PERROTTI
ALTON TEW
732- ATLANTA, gA
EVERETT D CHILDERS
RONALD J DURHAM
JOHN THOMAS JOINER
757- PORTLAND, OR
JAMES D ALLRED
HOWARD P GLIDDEN
RICHARD M KOEPER
KENNETH A PALMBLAD
RICHARD R PETERSEN
JUDITH A TALLON
788- sT. LOUIs, MO
HENRY R BELLER
KENNETH J BURGER
GAIL CONWAY
HARVEY G FELTON
GLORIA J HEINTZ
LUKE JONES JR
SHARON K NICHOLSON
WILLIAM F SENTER
WALTER SPIER
819- NEWARK, NJ
CARLTON Q FARRAR
JOSEPH W HOLLAND
JAYSON J RIVERA
WILLIAM SCOTT
822- PATERsON, NJ
LEWIS GLADSTONE
824- NEW BRUNsWIcK, NJ
JOSEPH SAVARESE
825- ORADELL, NJ
FERNANDO COMAS
GEORGE SANDOR
846- sT. cATHARINEs, ON
FREDRICK SCOTT NEWMAN
880- cAMDEN, NJ
EDWARD J MAHAN
WANDA TOMLINSON
998- MILWAUKEE, WI
CALVIN BELL
GLENN D DASHNER
BART G FREEDMAN
DENNIS W JOHANNES
MICHAEL L LUNOWA
GUNTER H SCHULTE
FRED P THIEL
FRANCIS M WORDEN
1037- NEW BEDFORD, MA
GALEN R REYNOLDS
1056- FLUsHINg, NY
PHILIP F CASCIOLA
GEORGE FOSTER
IRVING L GAINER
LOUIS HELLER
SOL KABINOFF
RICHARD J PILLA
ARTHUR UTLEY JR
THEODORE WAGENBLAST
1181- NEW YORK, NY
PATRICIA ARDI
GERALD ARMAND
JAMES CAMERON
FRANK CARUTI
DAVID COLLINS
FRANK D’AVINO
SALVATORE FICARROTTA
MARGUERITE FISHLEIN
DONALD J FOPEANO
LEONARD GANGI
MARIA C GONZALEZ
COSIMO IZZO
JOHN E KEATING
ARTHUR F LEUCK
BARTOLO MOLETA
JOSEPHINE MURPHY
CARMELA PACELLO
LOUIS PACHECO
ROSE POLITO
HELEN PROFOUS
CHARLES PUGLISSI
ROSE M SPERANZA
VINCENT TAVOLINE
CONNIE VIENTO
1338- DALLAs, TX
JACK D HOLMAN
GLENN MATHIS
1342- BUFFALO, NY
MARK F BRONOWSKI
GARY E CHIZ
RICHARD CHROSTOWSKI
GARY A ERWIN
FRANK S SPARACINO
1360- TOPEKA, Ks
FELIX R GONZALES
1374- cALgARY, AB
RUSSELL R DEGG
RONALD T GALNA
FLORENT A JOUBERT
LAURENCE G LACHAPELLE
JOSEPH LEVIS
JOHN WOODROW OSLAND
DELBERT C PERRY
ADRIANUS VAN BEERS
1385- DAYTON, OH
LOUIS L ELLIOTT
EDSEL WAKO FORD
LEONARD HOWARD
1433- PHOENIX, AZ
RICHARD L SCHIMMEL
1462- sT. JOHN’s, NF
LESTER SNELGROVE
1499- MUNcIE, IN
FRANK CRABTREE
1505- WINNIPEg, MB
HARVEY C NICHOLS
MARK A TYNES
1220- RIcHMOND, VA
ELNOR C MORRIS
1565- cHAPEL HILL, Nc
GARLAND R SAWYER
1225- sAN FRANcIscO, cA
ALSEY P ASTON
1572- MIssIssAUgA, ON
CLARENCE BASSETT
1229- sT JOHN, NB
JOHN W REID
1576- LYNNWOOD, WA
ANNA BROWN
JAMES A JOHNSON
1277- LOs ANgELEs, cA
RYAN GRANADOS
JAMES D MC KINNEY
JAN S MOSSEMBEKKER
TY V NGUYEN
ROBERT C WILLIAMS
1300- BALTIMORE, MD
ROY E LAUCK JR
JIMMY R PEARCE
MARGARET WALKER
1579- gAINEsVILLE, FL
BRENT S ARINSON
1587- TORONTO, ON
GEORGE J COOPER
ROGER S PERRIE
1591- BROWARD cOUNTY, FL
LISA ROSE MARKAJANI
1309- sAN DIEgO, cA
FREDDIE A BUCHANAN
PATRICIA HUNTER
DONALD R RESCH
I L SMITH
1700- cHIcAgO, IL
DAVID ALEXANDER
LOUIS LINZY HUDSON
HAROLD W LE FURGE
WILLIAM B LEE
JAMES E MC FARLAND
1321- ALBANY & TROY, NY
RUTH H MURPHY
1738- LATROBE, PA
LOUIS J DOWLING
MAY / JUNE 2010
15
Amalgamated Transit Union
NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
WASHINGTON, D.C.
PERMIT NO. 2656
AFL-CIO/CLC
5025 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20016
www.atu.org
PRINTED IN U.s.A.
Working
To Secure Our Future
THE FIFTY-sIXTH INTERNATIONAL cONVENTION OF THE AMALgAMATED TRANsIT UNION • sEPTEMBER 26 – OcTOBER 1, 2010
THE CONVENTION CENTER AT DISNEY’S CONTEMPORARY RESORT • LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA
2010 convention Delegate & guest checklist
DELEgATEs: BE cERTAIN YOUR cREDENTIALs ARE IN ORDER
Elected delegates should receive the duplicate copy of their credential certificate
from their local union. Remember to bring that duplicate copy with you to Florida.
Without it you will have to appear before the Credentials Committee in order to be
seated at the Convention.
REgIsTER FOR THE 56TH INTERNATIONAL cONVENTION
Please complete your convention registration form as soon as possible and return it
to your local union for submission to the International office with registration fees.
The cost for each delegate and guest is $175 ($50 for guests age 12 and under).
BOOK YOUR HOTEL REsERVATION
Book your convention hotel reservation for Disney’s Contemporary Resort or
Disney’s Polynesian Resort. (Details at right.)
VIsIT THE cONVENTION WEBsITE FOR THE LATEsT DETAILs AND UPDATEs!
You can find almost anything you need to know about the convention on the Fifty-Sixth
Convention website at www.atu2010.org.
HOTEL REsERVATIONs
Delegates and guests will need to reserve a
hotel room at Disney’s contemporary Resort
or Disney’s Polynesian Resort by calling Disney
at 1-407-824-3869, or by using the online link for
reservations located on the Convention website,
accessible through the home page at www.atu.org.
The deadline for booking Disney hotel reservations
is Friday, August 9, 2010.
ROOM RATEs
The room rate at either Disney resort is $185 per
night, plus 12.5%, tax. Disney will require a onenight room deposit with your reservation. These
rates exclude meals, telephone calls, movies,
etc., which are extra; however, Disney is providing
complimentary in-room internet access to all guest
rooms in the ATU room block. Check with Disney
for current cancellation policy.