Minneapolis, MN – Over 1000 union members, immigrant rights activists and supporters marched through Minneapolis’ Whittier neighborhood on Monday, February 16, to demand an end to ICE’s occupation of the city and for the defense of immigrant rights.

Marchers held dozens of banners with slogans like “ICE our now,” “Legalization for all,” and “Killer ICE off our streets.” The march began at Stewart Park, crossed a highway where the supportive honks of passing traffic temporarily drowned out the marchers’ chants, and ended at the intersection of Nicollet Avenue and 26th Street, where Alex Pretti was murdered.

Pretti was shot repeatedly in the back while held down on the ground by masked federal agents agents, after stepping between the agents and a woman who they were attempting to pepper spray.

The march was headlined by the Minnesota AFL-CIO, and was endorsed by many local unions, including AFGE Local 3669, AFSCME Council 5 and Council 65, ATU Local 1005, IATSE Local 13, IAM District 77, IUPAT District Council 82, LiUNA Minnesota and North Dakota, Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, Minnesota Nurses Association, NALC Branch 9, SEIU Locals 26 and 284, UFCW Locals 1189 and 663, and UNITE HERE Local 17. Many community organizations endorsed the event and turned out their membership to march as well, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations — MN (CAIR-MN), 50501 Minnesota, Reviving Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment (RISE), Women’s March Minnesota, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), and the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC).

Speakers were unanimous in driving home the message that ICE occupation of Minnesota has not ended. Manuel Pascual, a member of MIRAC, spoke to the crowd from the back of a truck as the marchers took the streets, saying, “Just days ago, federal officials announced the end of Operation Metro Surge. Let’s be clear — that did not happen because they suddenly found compassion. It happened because people across Minnesota organized, spoke out, marched, and refused to stay silent. It happened because immigrant communities and allies showed courage. It happened because resistance worked.”

However, Pascual continued to note that the community fight against ICE continues, and spoke to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s agreeing to “unprecedented” levels of state collaboration with ICE, without details of this agreement being made public. Pascual said, “What we are seeing now is not a victory lap from those in power. It is a shift in strategy. A quieter approach. Deals being made behind closed doors. Policies that risk embedding ICE deeper into our local systems — into our jails, into policing, into everyday encounters — where harm becomes less visible but no less real. We must say clearly: we will not be fooled.”

Organizers noted that a decreased ICE presence in Minnesota also does not mean that the battle against ICE has ended on a national scale, and that just as millions marched across the country in solidarity with Minnesota, Minnesota will march in solidarity with any future city to see a large-scale occupation by ICE.

When the march arrived at the site of Alex Pretti’s murder, organizers handed out flowers to attendees so they could lay them in tribute at his memorial. The crowd was asked to repeat these slogans after the emcee: “We have a duty to fight for our freedom! We have a duty to win! We have nothing to lose but our chains!”

MIRAC plans to take their demands for an end to ICE terror and for legalization for all directly to Governor Walz, with a rally outside the Minnesota Governor’s Residence at 1006 Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, February 24.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #Labor #AFLCIO #AFGE #AFSCME #ATU #IAM #MIRAC #CAIRMN #FRSO

San Jose, CA – On Monday, March 10, around 1500 bus and light rail operators and mechanics for Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), walked off the job. The workers are represented by Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 265. This is the first strike at the VTA since its founding in 1973.

Around 9 a.m. upwards of 70 ATU rank-and-file members could be seen picketing in front of the VTA headquarters as the strike began. Pickets were held at four other light rail and bus yards beginning at 4 a.m.

VTA and ATU have been in contract negotiations since August. After six months of bargaining, the ATU members decided to call a strike – which was approved by more than 96% of the union’s membership. The strike vote came after negotiations fell through and their contract expired last week.

SEIU 521, representing roughly 200 of VTA’s office workers, bus and light rail yard maintenance roles are also currently negotiating with VTA management and may be affected by the ongoing strike.

Raj Singh, ATU Local 265 president and business agent, picketed with rank-and-file members in front of the VTA headquarters and said, “Our current demands at this point are fair compensation, but our top priority is our arbitration clause – a dispute resolution process. Over the last year and half the agency has decided that on a handful of items that they were not going to participate in our arbitration proceedings.”

Singh continued, “I don’t understand why they don’t realize how unfair it is for [management] to just unilaterally decide if an issue has any merit or not. In a sense, it makes it so that all our employees are essentially at-will employees if we can’t challenge the decision that they come out with in regard to discipline issues.”

With the workers on strike, transit riders will need to plan alternatives to get to school and work. ATU has announced 24-hour picket lines at the VTA headquarters as well as at four transit yards until another tentative agreement is reached between ATU and VTA.

#SanJoseCA #CA #Labor #Transit #ATU #Strike #Feature

Denver, CO – On February 25, members of the Amalgamated Transit Union local 1001 (ATU 1001) joined together at Denver’s Union Station to march on the Regional Transportation District headquarters demanding livable wages and a decent contract. Along the march, workers chanted, “Without transit workers, transit doesn't work!” and “Who moves this city? We move this city!”

Rank-and-file ATU member Joseph Carriere states, “The 5, 4 ,4% pay scale doesn’t cover inflation, doesn’t cover cost of living, and is essentially a pay cut every year!”

Regional Transportation District (RTD) operators and mechanics represent a crucial role in Denver’s transportation infrastructure, and they ask for a decent wage for their frontline work. The RTD board claims that this is their last, best and final offer, while sitting on the extra $200 million that’s been added to the RTD budget. After the march, workers piled into the board meeting room to deliver impassioned speeches to the board telling them to meet their demands for a livable wage.

Along with a livable pay scale, workers also demanded adequate security, noting that only Union Station, Civic Center, and Downtown Boulder see a common security presence, while others only rarely see a security presence. Illustrating how the lack of such a presence can lead to injury and assault, workers demanded that the security standards be increased to ensure that they are able to maintain operator and passenger safety.

“RTD wants highly skilled workers but doesn’t want to pay for them,” stated ATU local President Lance Longenbon. “Management paychecks get bloated while they ignore the people who make this work.”

As contract negotiations continue, rank-and-file members looking for a contract that protects transit workers and their livelihoods.

#DenverCO #CO #Labor #BusDrivers #ATU

Chicago, IL – The Chicago Transit Justice Coalition (CTJC) is a rank-and-file opposition caucus of Chicago Transit Authority workers in Amalgamated Transit Union Locals 241/308. They publish a newsletter called Finally Got the News. The CTJC was launched in December of 2019. They encourage 241/308 members to be proactive in fighting against what Local 308 member Eric Basir describes as “tyrannical managers.”

Basir summed up the four years of CTJC history as “Six Hour of Power demonstrations, which were democratically chosen work locations. 21 total protests based on coworker initiatives. 34 radio shows and far more protests than any ATU local for decades”.

Their first demonstrations were small, three to five people at best, because both CTA management and the sellout 241/308 ATU executive board discouraged participation and retaliated against workers who showed up. But it's too late to stop the CTJC now. Their latest Hour of Power demonstration on July 14 attracted more than 20 people in the searing heat at the Forest Park Blue Line terminal. What's more is that the CTJC wasn't alone this time – a CTA rider's association called Commuters Take Action showed up, along with members of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and the Democratic Socialists of America.

CTA Customer Service Assistant and ATU 308 member Janice Brown got on the mic and pointed her remarks to the CTA: “You say you're a world-class agency, but you don't treat your employees world-class. I just want what everybody else has – I want to be able to take care of my family and be able to purchase a car if need be.”

Basir told the crowd, “We haven't had any changes to our pay for many, many years. And we're [CTA mechanics] doing multiple jobs. The servicers who clean the trains and buses, when they're sent out to the rail yards, the CTA mismanagement will not give them radios. That is totally against the contract. They don't even give them flashlights. Imagine that! You're working out on the rail yard at night and you don't have a flashlight? You need a flashlight not necessarily for you to see, but for the train operators to see you! But they don't want to give it to them, they're that cheap! Our clerks are also getting ripped off on the nighttime premium!”

There were several other speakers, all of whom condemned CTA for their anti-worker policies, which play a major role in the company's lousy worker retention rate, with an average of over 500 workers leaving or getting discharged every year. That exacerbates the already awful service CTA is infamous for. They simply don't have the staff to cover all the runs, so operators on both the bus and rail sides are doing dangerous amounts of overtime.

The CTJC and Commuters Take Action met after the Hour of Power demonstration to strategize about how to take this already strong movement to the next level. There was consensus that everyone in both organizations fully support the current strike wave sweeping north America, with a number of people wearing Teamsters Local 705 support shirts.

Chicago Transit Justice Coalition past actions: http://www.chicagotransitworker.com/action-archive.html

Chicago-Area Transit Workers Radio: https://www.blogtalkradio.com/ericb007

#ChicagoIL #ATU

I first drove out to Loudoun County in early 2016 to help organize the transit workers, who had just been unceremoniously abandoned by their former “union.” This outfit walked off after four attempts over two years to get the workers to ratify a contract containing a 25-cents per year increases. Not surprisingly, almost none of the workers by that time still belonged to that absentee and moribund “union.” They were abandoned without notice by that union and cut loose to suffer their fate.

As organizing director for the ATU International union, I had received phone calls from several workers who at that time were employed by the Transdev, the previous French-owned transit firm in Loudoun County. These workers had been ATU members previously at other transit companies and wanted to join up again. I went out to meet them the next day and ran a union meeting in the bus garage until Transdev management had the police evict me from the county-owned building. Workers were on a multi-hour mid-day split break.

Disgusted with the heavy-handed police action, about 40 workers followed me outside where I continued the meeting standing on the back of my pickup truck in the street. Workers were fired up at the thought of joining ATU and union card signing for an NLRB election with ATU started on the spot. The enthusiasm was not contagious, however, and the following morning at my office in the ATU headquarters a long-overdue-to-retire-and-never-should-have-been-hired international representative of the union counseled me that, “There’s nothing you can do. If they didn’t join the other union, they won’t join ATU. It’ll be a lot of work.” I promptly disregarded this “advice,” but it sadly expressed the lethargic and defeatist views of many in the ATU leadership – then and now. That staff member was needed in the drive, but as was the case with most other campaigns, I cobbled together what staff I could to do the work – without him.

Our campaign was off and running from the street meeting. But, as is one of the preferred anti-union devices of Transdev, the next day the company set up a fake “Driver Council” with hand-picked pro-company bootlickers as leaders. This offer of a freebie “union” of sorts split the group badly and had the desired effect of creating dissent among the workers. Our organizing stalled immediately. In the interim I played the role of morale officer with the ATU stalwarts, talking to them every week and making numerous trips out to meet with them. I assigned a staff organizer to the property, and we confidently told the workers that once the company believed the danger of ATU had passed that all company improvements would evaporate.

It took six or seven months, but the ATU campaign was renewed. As is the case with all fake “company unions,” people increasingly saw the fraudulent nature of the scheme and chose a real union – ATU. The many promises came to nothing and the company stooges fronting the scheme exposed themselves as tools and spies for the personnel department.

After an all-out fight with Transdev – one of the most anti-union firms of all the private contract companies that ATU deals with – the group was finally organized in early September 2017 by a 62 to 5 landslide margin in an NLRB election. After another tough fight, a good first contract was reached and ratified overwhelmingly. Shop leader Sandra Vigil, one of the key early leaders and a solid supporter through all the ups and downs, explains in the Labor Notes article the benefits of the first contract that the union had worked so hard to win.

As is the custom in the musical chairs of transit contracting, Transdev was eventually outbid and removed. Keolis is the company now employed by Loudoun County to provide transit, commuter and paratransit service to the people of this fast-growing and wealthy suburb of Washington, DC. The county agreed to hire Keolis in 2021 despite their miserable record of performance and labor relations; no due diligence of any consequence was performed by the county administration. The ATU confidently predicted this entire eventual debacle, but as is the case in Loudoun County, the transit agency management staff are reflexively anti-union and constantly in cahoots with the companies they supposedly oversee.

The otherwise liberal Democrats who control the county are sympathetic, but otherwise paralyzed in their own bureaucratic cul-de-sac. Rather than decisively drop the hammer on the company for their outrageous conduct, the politicians are inclined to mediate and coax rather than govern. The company and the transit agency management are well aware of the contracting racket, and constantly conspire against the workers and the political leadership that – at least on paper – are supposed to be in charge.

For more than a year after winning the Loudoun transit contract, Keolis worked feverishly to destroy ATU, forcing another NLRB election and committing a mountain of NLRB Unfair Labor Practice violations with their illegal conduct. Finally, after many months, the union members were able to win their union a second time in an NLRB election in March of 2022, by another landslide margin of 71 to 2.

In recent years the unit has also grown from the original 70 to more than 130 workers, more than double the size of the original group that joined ATU. Despite every company maneuver to destroy the union – first by Transdev and now Keolis – the workers have succeeded and triumphed. Bargaining for a union contract began shortly after the second NLRB election win. But little bargaining took place.

The current strike is yet again another attempt by the outlaw Keolis company to destroy the union, and it will fail as all of the previous schemes have failed. Underlining the Keolis strike is also the amazing fact that over the past eight years, ATU has managed to win and organize 45 new transit units in the greater Washington, DC region. More than 3500 transit workers have been added to ATU’s ranks, taking the total working membership of ATU well past 15,000 in the region. It is a feat unmatched in the country to see such a concentration and perseverance of a union’s organizing efforts focused on its core jurisdiction in a given region.

ATU Local 689 has now grown into somewhat of a North Star for transit workers in the region, bargaining ever-better contracts and ensuring that the organizing wave with the unorganized transit workers in the region will continue.

The workers will prevail in the current battle, just three years ago ATU won a landmark rollback of privatization and a great contract settlement after almost three months of striking only 40 miles away in Lorton, Virginia. Once again, the Transdev menace was defeated and the interests of the transit workers in the region were advanced.

The workers on these transit properties, the international union organizers, the local union leaders and members all deserve recognition for these events. They are an example for the ATU as well as the labor movement generally. It has been proven that substantial union organizing, bargaining – and, if needed, strike action – can succeed in Virginia. Further, the ATU has proven that when persistence is shown, huge numbers of unorganized transit workers can be organized and brought into the union.

Stay tuned for updates on the strike at Labor Notes and at the ATU web site at Amalgamated Transit Union (atu.org) Chris Townsend was most recently the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) International Union organizing director. Previously he was an international representative and political action director for the United Electrical Workers Union (UE), and he has held local positions in both the SEIU and UFCW.

#AlexandriaVA #AmalgamatedTransitUnion #Strikes #ATU

As Chicago Transit Authority president Dorval Carter continues the undeclared war against bus operators, train operators and mechanics that his predecessor Forrest Claypool started, Amalgamated Transit Union Locals 241 and 308 have begun to unite to fight back. According to a statement from the unions, “ATU Locals 241 and 308 represent the vast majority of CTA employees (almost 10,000), working without a contract since December 2015. The CTA refuses to take the vast majority of its workforce seriously. It wants to strip them of their hard-earned benefits and deny them wage increases. The CTA wants to continue with the insults and abuses.”

The fightback took things to a new level when Local 241 staged a daylong series of demonstrations on Dec. 21 in multiple locations around the city, including in front of CTA headquarters on Lake Street and at the busy 95th Street Red Line El terminal on the south side. Hundreds of Local 241 members turned out to each location to step up the struggle for a decent contract. Several weeks ago, an historic joint meeting of the executive boards of Locals 241 and 308 took place. Both locals united to organize a powerful demonstration on Jan. 16 in front of Mount Pisgah Baptist on the south side neighborhood of Bronzeville to honor Dr. King and advance the struggle for the contract.

This reporter, a Local 241 member and full-time bus operator for CTA, had the opportunity to interview several co-workers on their thoughts on the contract negotiations.

Fight Back!: What are the biggest issues for you as a bus operator that you feel need to be addressed in the contract negotiations?

Terrance Tolbert, Chicago garage: The 18% rise in health insurance premiums along with more out-of-pocket and increased deductibles concerns me. Our paychecks are being squeezed every year. If we can save money by going to Blue Cross/Blue Shield [instead of the Cigna plan that was forced upon CTA employees by Forrest Claypool], I'm all for it. Also, the lack of layover time in the terminals and poor bathroom conditions need to be addressed. Operators don't have enough time to use the bathroom during their routes.

Marc Greenwood, Chicago garage: Safety for the operators. For example, making nighttime reliefs and during fallbacks [breaks] at night. CTA should provide a clean and safe environment for personals [short breaks] in the terminals, as well as providing better health and wellness programs.

BrenAda Williams, Chicago garage: We need better coverage with a lower co-pay. We also need more layover time in the terminals, which is conducive to all operators, especially for women and the disabled, to have an adequate personal. We need bonuses of more than $1000, especially if we don't receive back pay. In addition, CTA needs to increase sick pay from the first week of full pay to the first two weeks of full pay. They also need to eliminate the 12-hour work day so operators can get adequate rest.

Fight Back!: What do you think would be the most effective strategy for 241 to pursue to ensure we get a fair contract? Do you feel the recent street demonstrations by Local 241 and 308 were a step in the right direction?

Tolbert: All union members need to get involved to show CTA that we are united and that we deserve better. The recent rallies are a good start to making CTA negotiate in good faith with some realistic proposals. The press coverage will get bigger each time. Management is taking notice.

Greenwood: I'm a firm believer in “it's the squeaky wheel that gets greased.” I feel we have to keep coming together as a whole and keep applying pressure and make ourselves heard. I definitely feel the demonstration was – and is, and will continue to be – a step in the right direction.

Williams: The demonstration was a good start.

Fight Back!: What sort of changes need to happen inside Local 241 and how do we go about making those happen?

Tolbert: Accurate information needs to be communicated to, and discussed with all members on a regular basis so that false rumors can be dispelled. All members need to get behind [ATU Local 241] President Sams and the negotiating team and put personal agendas on hold. Let's keep our eyes on the prize and not be distracted. If we stand together in these next few months, we can get a fair contract.

Greenwood: We need to continue to organize within our local [241] as well as our sister local [308]. Part-timers, full-timers and maintenance need to come together to support our leadership and move forward. We can't move forward and accomplish anything if we're always fighting each other. We must come together and show strength in solidarity.

#ChicagoIL #US #PeoplesStruggles #ATU

Chicago, IL – The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is sharpening its knives, ready to come after mechanics, bus and train operators in Amalgamated Transit Union Locals 241 and 308. According to 308 President and Business Agent Kenneth Franklin, there has been no contract since Dec. 31, 2015. CTA has been pushing for takebacks in every area in negotiations, and according to Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 241, the CTA “has evidenced no intention of reaching a fair agreement voluntarily.”

The CTA wants the unlimited ability to subcontract work and to expand the usage of part-time employees beyond their home garages. They want to eliminate any guarantee of working hours in the contract. In addition to this, CTA is pushing for no wage increases until as late as 2019.

Not satisfied with former CTA chief Forrest Claypool's dumping of Blue Cross Blue Shield in favor of his one-percenter cronies at Cigna, they have also proposed dramatically increasing deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. The vast majority of the members of Locals 241 and 308 are Black, and these contract proposals, called “unreal” by 241, should be seen in context as an attack on oppressed Black communities on Chicago's West and South sides.

To bring the rank-and-file into the struggle, ATU Locals 241 and 308 called for a rally and press conference, Nov. 17, in front of CTA headquarters at 567 W Lake Street. The rally was well attended. Present were Tommy Sams, 241 president and business agent; Carlos Acevedo, 241 financial recording secretary; Kenneth Franklin, 308 president and business agent; and 241 executive board members Erek Slater and Danell Pender-Bey.

In his speech at the rally, Sams said, “We're proud that we make the lives of our hard-working Chicagoans work. We're hard-working too at the same time. We need to let the public know that we've been working without a contract for one year. Let's keep the city moving forward, and let's get a new contract and a fair contract!”

#ChicagoIL #ATU #ChicagoTransitAuthority

Grand Rapids, MI – 30 union bus drivers and their supporters rallied outside the meeting of the Interurban Transit Partnership – also known as the Rapids Board – the afternoon of Aug. 31, demanding a decent contract in negotiations. The board spent the past year attacking the bus drivers’ union and its leaders instead of dealing fairly with them.

As politicians from Grand Rapids and surrounding towns entered the meeting the pro-union crowd chanted, “What do we want? A contract! When do we want it? Now!”

The politicians fake-smiled and scurried into the building, with one bus driver yelling “Shame! Shame! Shame!” after them.

International Executive Vice President Javier Perez Jr., of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), spoke, “Why the struggle for a pension and health care is so critical? It’s not just about us. It’s about what happens to everybody that’s working in the city of Grand Rapids. Everybody should have a decent pension plan.”

Perez explained, “Our pension proposal will not cost the employer one penny more. It is that they want to break the pension plan. It is an ideological argument. It is a philosophical argument, that need not happen.”

In front of the transit board there was public commentary by ten or more bus drivers and their supporters. Grand Rapids ATU Recording Secretary Jodie Burns remarked, “I spent my day at negotiations with the Rapid. It was my first time doing this, and I was surprised by how little they wanted to talk to us.”

Burns continued, “We switched our health care plan in the last negotiations, giving them half a million in health care savings. Now they are proposing a plan that will cost drivers with families almost $800 per month!”

Student activists from United Students Against Sweatshops at Grand Valley State University spoke in solidarity. Months after a protest at a previous board meeting, Grand Rapids police were sent to intimidate and harass students and one worker at their homes.

Later in the meeting, the Rapids Board voted to give a 2% raise to administrators while refusing to budge in negotiations with its blue-collar work force.

#GrandRapidsMI #UnitedStudentsAgainstSweatshops #AmalgamatedTransitUnion #InterurbanTransitPartnership #RapidsBoard #ATU