Sun Tran Management is operated by Transdev, a corporation with a track record of union busting and using scab labor. Transdev is also a subsidiary of Veolia, one of the world’s largest water privatizers. Of the attempt to lure out-of-town scab labor, Local 104 President Andy Marshall said, “All that money could be used to settle the strike!”

Arizona is a ‘Right to Work’ state. The bus drivers are not public employees. They are privately contracted through Sun Tran Management. They have the right to strike and they have demonstrated that power.

Fight Back! will continue to follow this story. A press conference is scheduled for Sept. 16 and a direct action has been called for Sept. 18.

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Minneapolis, MN – After a 45-day strike, Twin Cities transit workers reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, April 13. Despite vocal opposition in the media by some members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005, the contract was ratified with 72% voting in favor. The final scorecard was clear – retiree medical benefits were eliminated and wage increases were only 1.5% over three years. While there were some gains from the employer’s final pre-strike offer, the union was able to get back only a portion of the millions of dollars the employer saved by not operating buses during the strike.

But one cannot simply judge a strike by what is immediately won and lost. We have to ask: How did the workers fight the fight, how did they engage the enemy, and did it advance the struggle?

There should be no doubt that it was correct for bus drivers to stand up and fight for health care and against concessions. Union after union over the past couple of years has rolled over to employer demands for concessions. Those workers who chose to fight rather than concede, such as grocery workers in California, clerical workers at the University of Minnesota and striking members of ATU Local 1005 should be applauded.

However, while it is good transit workers chose to fight, it would have been better if they had been able to fight harder and smarter.

It was clear from the beginning of the strike that there were two conceptions of trade unionism at work in Local 1005. A bureaucratic approach, led by the Local 1005 president, represented a business unionism approach to striking. This approach placed emphasis on reaching a last-minute deal, did not attempt to mobilize the membership and ignored the key task of organizing the community. The approach was not to fight the enemy – Governor Pawlenty and Met Council head Peter Bell – in the press or through sharp political actions. With no roadmap to victory, the only strategy appeared to be to wear out the membership so a deal could be reached.

The other approach within Local 1005 was a class struggle approach. A group of the leadership actively pushed and organized a more militant agenda. This section of Local 1005 organized a series of rallies, involved the membership in a strike committee and reached out to the community. They began to put out a sharper analysis of the fight, emphasizing the roots of the problem in the health care crisis. It is clear that these are the types of tactics Local 1005 would have had to employ earlier and more consistently to win the strike.

The membership of Local 1005 favored a more aggressive approach and were willing to take action. Early in the strike, hundreds of members, with little prompting, pushed into the governor’s office demanding a just settlement of the contract. When the settlement was announced, many members made it clear that they wanted to continue to fight, but did not see a winning strategy from the leadership.

The will to sacrifice and the determination shown by the members of Local 1005 merits the respect of all working people. There is little doubt that in an era when attacks on public employees are the order of the day, transit workers will face the job of resisting new attacks and making up for lost ground. Hopefully, they will do so with a leadership that is capable of rising to the occasion and doing what needs to be done.

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Minneapolis, MN – After months of negotiations with the Metropolitan Council, 2200 Twin Cities bus drivers, dispatchers, maintenance and clerical workers went on strike at 2:00 a.m., March 4. The transit workers, members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005, last struck in 1995.

The stakes in this contract battle include affordable health care benefits for current workers and the future of retiree health care benefits.

In the first few weeks of the strike, management appeared to have the upper hand. Elements in the Local 1005 leadership had placed much hope in reaching a last-minute deal. In doing so, they delayed building the community coalition necessary to win this strike. There are natural constituencies in the thousands of Minnesotans who rely on public transportation and the even larger numbers of working people in the state concerned about the health care crisis.

A Boost

A week into the strike, transit workers received an important boost when more than 700 strikers and their supporters demonstrated at the University of Minnesota, March 12, to demand justice for workers on strike against Metropolitan Transit. The action was organized jointly by AFSCME Local 3800, a local of University of Minnesota clerical workers who were on strike themselves just months ago, and transit workers of ATU 1005.

In addition to transit and clerical workers, the crowd included students from the University of Minnesota and members from several unions, including the postal workers union, Laborers, Teamsters and SEIU. Mary Brandl, member of AFSCME Local 3800, said, “The support we got from MTC drivers during our strike will never be forgotten.”

The forces lined up against the bus drivers are the same right-wing politicians that striking University of Minnesota clerical workers faced last fall. The Metropolitan Council is led by Peter Bell, a right-wing ideologue tied to the Center for the American Experiment, a far right think tank. Peter Bell represents Governor Tim Pawlenty’s agenda of busting public sector unions and driving down the wages and benefits of public sector employees. Rather than deal with the health care crisis, Pawlenty and his cronies attack affordable health care for all workers.

As a member of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents, Bell spearheaded the union busting campaign against workers at the university. Clerical workers at the university, members of AFSCME Local 3800, refused to be intimidated by Bell’s union busting tactics and went on strike for 15 days.

First at the U of M, and now with the Metro Transit employees, Pawlenty and Bell have provoked strikes over health care. Speakers at the rally, including Michelle Sommers, Vice-president of ATU Local 1005, demanded that Pawlenty and Bell act now to deal with Minnesota’s health care crisis.

Governor Pawlenty and Bell do not care about the 220,000 Minnesotans who rely on public transportation. They are not part of Pawlenty’s political base. However, through vocal organization, this huge base of community support can impact the success of the strike. As the strike continues, the impact on businesses which rely on low-wage bus-riding workers will intensify, pressuring Pawlenty to settle the strike.

Support Grows

As the transit strike entered its third week, more than 1300 transit workers and their supporters rallied on the steps of the state capitol building, March 18. The rally drew from a broad cross section of the labor movement, including postal workers, University of Minnesota clerical workers, Teamsters and some of the building and trades unions.

After the rally, more than 300 of the workers marched to the governor’s office inside the capitol building. Overflowing the governor’s reception area, many slammed Pawlenty, chanting, “Shame on you!” In an attempt to keep more bus drivers from entering the office area, the head of the governor’s security detail and a member of the state patrol attacked a transit worker. No one was intimidated.

At a standing room only fundraiser on March 27 at the Communication Workers of America Local 7200 hall in Minneapolis, speaker after speaker told the bus drivers that their fight for affordable health care was a fight for all working people. The event, which was mainly organized by AFSCME Local 3800, raised almost $15,000 in contributions from local unions and individuals and three truckloads of food for the Local 1005 strikers’ food bank. UFCW Local 789 and UAW Local 879 also participated in organizing the event. The event was endorsed by the MN AFL-CIO, several labor councils and local unions.

This series of rallies has been important in keeping up the spirits of the striking drivers and to help get out the message of transit workers.

The transit strike has hit many communities hard. Immigrant communities in Minnesota particularly rely on bus service and have been affected by this strike. Low-income workers rely on bus service to get to work and many are paying high portions of their income to take taxis to work. Pawlenty ignores the hardship created by the shutdown of mass transit on the working poor. However, a growing number of organizations representing poor people and bus riders began demanding a restoration of bus services and a just conclusion to the transit strike. The demands fly in the face of Governor Tim Pawlenty’s arguments that the strike is having ‘no effect’ and that mass transit is not necessary.

The United Methodist Church in South Minneapolis launched the Share the Pain Campaign. The campaign calls on “all supporters of transit in the metro area to drive to work at the legal minimum speed of 40 m.p.h. We will share the pain with the working poor and the disabled until the buses are back.” The campaign is prompted by Governor Tim Pawlenty’s complete indifference to the bus strike’s effect on poor and working people.

In a related development, a broad-based grouping of religious leaders representing millions of members signed a joint declaration on March 31 calling for a negotiated end to the strike. According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, this is the largest coalition of religious organizations on a political issue in years, surpassing even the broad religious opposition to the first George Bush’s Gulf War in 1991.

The official labor bureaucracy has been of less help. Despite official proclamations of support, the central labor bodies and mainstream labor officials have not offered much practical support, prompting a columnist from the Minneapolis Star Tribune to ask what happened to labor solidarity.

The local has set up a Transit Worker’s Support Committee to conduct outreach to the community and help plan rallies. The Local has gotten much support from progressive unions, in particular, AFSCME Local 3800. The support committee is intensifying efforts to reach out to the community and to organize opposition to Pawlenty’s anti-worker agenda.

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The United Methodist Church in South Minneapolis today launched the 'Share the Pain Campaign.' The United Methodist's campaign calls on “all supporters of transit in the metro area to drive to work at the legal minimum speed of 40 mph. We will share the pain with the working poor and the disabled until the buses are back.” The campaign is prompted by Governor Tim Pawlenty's complete indifference to the bus strike's effect on poor and working people.

In a related development, a broad-based grouping of religious leaders representing millions of members signed a joint declaration calling for a negotiated end to the strike. According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, this is the largest coalition of religious organizations on a political issue in years, surpassing even the broad religious opposition to the first George Bush's Gulf War in 1991.

More and more users of mass transit are speaking out in favor of an end to the strike and a fair contract for transit workers. Students at the University of Minnesota are planning a major event at noon on Tuesday, April 6 in front of Coffman Union on the University of Minnesota Campus. The students will be calling for a fair contract for transit workers and demanding a return of bus services. Thousands of University students rely on the bus every day.

This growing support for a negotiated end to the strike benefits the union, as Governor Pawlenty is counting on time to wear the strikers down. Instead the union picket lines remain strong and there is growing pressure on Pawlenty. Union forces are planning systematic outreach to affected communities over the next week, including a Mass Transit Worker's Support Committee meeting at 11:00 on Saturday at the Minneapolis Central Labor Union building, 312 Central Avenue in Minneapolis.

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Minneapolis, MN – At a packed fundraiser for striking bus drivers on Saturday, March 27, almost $15,000 in contributions from local unions and individuals was collected for the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005 strike fund. Participants also contributed three truckloads of food for the Local 1005 strikers' food bank.

2200 transit workers have been on strike for nearly four weeks. At stake in this contract battle are affordable health care benefits for current workers and the future of retiree health care benefits. No negotiations are scheduled.

At the standing room only event, speaker after speaker told the bus drivers that their fight for affordable health care was a fight for all working people. The event was mainly organized by AFSCME Local 3800, clerical workers at the University of Minnesota who engaged in their own strike over health care last fall. UFCW Local 789 and UAW Local 879 also participated in organizing the event, which was held at the CWA Local 7200 union hall. The event was endorsed by the MN AFL-CIO, several labor councils and local unions.

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No contract talks are scheduled between Metropolitan Council and the striking members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005, whose ranks include bus and light rail drivers, cleaners, maintenance and clerical workers. The main issue is health care. In the months leading up to the strike, Governor Pawlenty and his appointed head of the Met Council, Peter Bell, made it clear that they wanted big concessions from the transit workers – in fact, the Met Council wanted to stop paying for retiree's health care.

Speaking to the rally, Phyllis Walker, president of AFSCME Local 3800, blasted the Pawlenty administration for making the health care crisis for Minnesota working people worse.

After the rally, more than 300 of the workers marched to the governor's office inside the capitol building. Overflowing the governor's reception area, many slammed Pawlenty, chanting, “Shame on you!” In an attempt to keep more bus drivers from entering the office area, the head of the governor's security detail and a member of the state patrol attacked a transit worker. No one was intimidated.

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Minneapolis, MN – More than 700 strikers and their supporters demonstrated here, March 12, to demand justice for workers on strike against Metropolitan Transit. The action was organized jointly by AFSCME Local 3800, a local of University of Minnesota clerical workers who were on strike themselves just months ago, and transit workers of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005.

In addition to transit and clerical workers, the crowd included students from the University of Minnesota and members from several unions, including the postal workers union, Laborers, Teamsters and SEIU. Mary Brandl, member of AFSCME Local 3800 said, “The support we got from MTC drivers during our strike will never be forgotten.”

Hundreds cheered as speakers stated their demands for an end to Governor Pawlenty's union-busting agenda, a fair contract for Metro Transit workers and a solution to the health care crisis facing all Minnesotans.

Under Governor Pawlenty, health care costs for working people are going sky high. Instead of dealing with the problem, Pawlenty and other policy makers, like Peter Bell – chair of the Metropolitan Council (which runs Metro Transit) and a regent at the University of Minnesota – have attacked health care benefits of public employees. First at the U of M, and now with the Metro Transit employees, Pawlenty and Bell have provoked strikes over health care. Speakers at the rally, including Michelle Sommers, vice-president of ATU Local 1005 demanded that Pawlenty and Bell act now to deal with Minnesota's health care crisis.

Martin Goff, a union representative from HERE Local 17 told protesters, “Today is a great day for solidarity.”

#TwinCitiesMN #MN #News #BusStrike #AmalgamatedTransitUnionLocal1005

At stake in this contract battle are affordable health care benefits for current workers and the future of retiree health care benefits.

The forces lined up against the bus drivers are the same right-wing politicians that striking University of Minnesota clerical workers faced last Fall. The Metropolitan Council is led by Peter Bell, a right-wing ideologue tied to the Center for the American Experiment, a far right think tank. Peter Bell represents Governor Tim Pawlenty's agenda of busting public sector unions and driving down the wages and benefits of public sector employees. Rather than deal with the health care crisis, Pawlenty and his cronies attack affordable health care for all workers.

As a member of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents, Bell spearheaded the union busting campaign against unions at the university. Clerical workers at the university, members of AFSCME Local 3800, refused to be intimidated by Bell's union busting tactics and went on strike for 15 days.

To their credit, the ATU has held strong when many other public sector unions have settled for concessionary contracts. As the strike progresses, important tactics will need to be developed for the strike to be successful. The Local 1005 leadership placed much hope in reaching a last-minute deal. In doing so, they delayed building the community coalition necessary to win this strike. There are natural constituencies in the thousands of Minnesotans who rely on public transportation, and the even larger numbers of working people in the state concerned about the health care crisis.

Governor Pawlenty and Bell do not care about the 220,000 Minnesotans who rely on public transportation. They are not part of Pawlenty's political base. However, through vocal organization, this huge base of community support can impact the success of the strike. As the strike continues, the impact on businesses which rely on low-wage bus-riding workers will intensify, pressuring Pawlenty to settle the strike.

There is a growing health care crisis in Minnesota, which Governor Pawlenty has done nothing to address – other than appointing a sham panel of health care and corporate executives to look at health care costs. The panel failed to address the issues of key importance to working people – skyrocketing premiums and lack of universal health care coverage. By linking the struggle of transit workers with the struggle for universal and quality health care for all workers, transit workers will be able to broaden the already widespread public support for the strike.

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