In Transit - May/June 2010 by Amalgamated Transit Union

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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 – rrichmond@atu.org

DONALD T. HANSEN

Tenino, WA – dhansen@atu.org

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 – bbaker@atu.org Ashburn, ON – lkinnear@atu.org

RANDY GRAHAM

Gloucester, ON – rgraham@atu.org

JAVIER M. PEREZ, JR.

Kansas City, MO – jperez@atu.org

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 – bhykaway@atu.org Petaluma, CA – ccook@atu.org

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 – wmclean@atu.org

JANIS M. BORCHARDT

Madison, WI – jborchardt@atu.org

PAUL BOWEN

Canton, MI – pbowen@atu.org

LAWRENCE J. HANLEY

Staten Island, NY – lhanley@atu.org

Kenneth R. Kirk

Lancaster, TX – kkirk@atu.org

GARY RAUEN

Clayton, NC – grauen@atu.org

Marcellus Barnes

Flossmore, IL – mbarnes@atu.org

RAY RIVERA

Lilburn, GA– rrivera@atu.org

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 – ysalazar@atu.org Sebastopol, CA – awithington@atu.org Cleveland, OH – gjohnson@atu.org Spokane, WA – dantonellis@atu.org

KAREN MILLER-LEWIS

Memphis, TN – kmiller@atu.org

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 director@atucanada.ca

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.

IN TRANSIT

www.atu.org

A MEssAgE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL PREsIDENT

How Strategic Campaigns Benefit ATU Members

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

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

Magazine Index

International Executive Vice President’s Message Raids: Preparing for a Fight

International secretaryTreasurer’s Message 56th Convention: Will You Be Represented?

ATU, TWU Rally for Operating Assistance in Atlanta

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.

How Strategic Campaigns Benefit ATU Members

Organizing Update

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

Legislative Report

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

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, E-MAIL-BMCOMM@PATHCOM.COM 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

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

A MEssAgE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL sEcRETARY-TREAsURER

Will You Be Represented?

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!

IN TRANSIT

www.atu.org

ATU, TWU Rally for Operating Assistance in Atlanta

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.

2 6

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

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 ywells@atu.org.

IN TRANSIT

# of Employees

Type of Employees

192-Oakland, CA

A-Paratransit Corp. (Hayward, CA)

100

paratransit operators

398-Boise, ID

First Transit

bus operators

425 Hartford, CT

Transit (Hartford, CT)

reservationists

448-Springfield, MA

Lecrenski Brothers

school bus operators

1005-Mnpls.-St. Paul, MN

First Transit (Minneapolis, MN)

mechanics & utility workers

1005-Mnpls.-St. Paul, MN

First Transit (Blaine, MN)

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)

mechanics & yard workers

1763-Rocky Hill, CT

First Transit

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

— 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.

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?’

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

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

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

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’

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

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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

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

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:

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

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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

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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

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.