OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE AMALGAMATED TRANSIT UNION | AFL-CIO/CLC JULY / AUGUST 2014 A NEW BEGINNING FOR PROGRESSIVE LABOR EDUCATION & ACTIVISM ATU ACQUIRES NATIONAL LABOR COLLEGE CAMPUS HAPPY LABOUR DAY INTERNATIONAL OFFICERS LAWRENCE J. HANLEY International President JAVIER M. PEREZ, JR. NEWSBRIEFS International Executive Vice President OSCAR OWENS TTC targets door safety woes International Secretary-Treasurer Imagine this: your subway train stops at your destination. The doors open – but on the wrong side. In the past year there have been INTERNATIONAL VICE PRESIDENTS 12 incidents of doors opening either off the platform or on the wrong side of the train in Toronto. LARRY R. KINNEAR Ashburn, ON – [email protected] The Toronto Transit Commission has now implemented a new RICHARD M. MURPHY “point and acknowledge” safety procedure to reduce the likelihood Newburyport, MA – [email protected] of human error when opening train doors. The procedure consists BOB M. HYKAWAY of four steps in which a subway operator must: stand up, open Calgary, AB – [email protected] the window as the train comes to a stop, point at a marker on the wall using their index finger and WILLIAM G. McLEAN then open the train doors. If the operator doesn’t see the marker he or she is instructed not to open Reno, NV – [email protected] the doors. JANIS M. BORCHARDT Madison, WI – [email protected] PAUL BOWEN Agreement in Guelph, ON, ends lockout Canton, MI – [email protected] After the City of Guelph, ON, locked out members of Local 1189 KENNETH R. KIRK for three weeks, city buses stopped running, and transit workers Lancaster, TX – [email protected] were out of work and out of a contract while commuters were left GARY RAUEN stranded. But bus service resumed after the members voted to Clayton, NC – [email protected] ratify a new agreement with the city. MARCELLUS BARNES The city and Local 1189 started bargaining on October 30, 2013 Flossmore, IL – [email protected] for a new contact, which had expired at the end of June 2013. RAY RIVERA The city locked out their employees after they voted down the Lilburn, GA – [email protected] city’s first offer. “This has been a difficult process, but we’ve ended up in a better place,” says YVETTE SALAZAR Local President Andrew Cleary. Thornton, CO – [email protected] GARY JOHNSON, SR. Cleveland, OH – [email protected] Free mass transit gaining backers ROBIN WEST Last spring the city of Paris gave further proof that the best things Halifax, NS – [email protected] in life are free when the transit system eliminated all fares on JOHN COSTA local trams, buses, trains and subways. Traffic declined by nearly Kenilworth, NJ – [email protected] 20 percent and air pollution fell by six percent. Can a fare-free CHUCK WATSON policy transform a region? For bigger cities, eliminating fares Syracuse, NY – [email protected] is a means to increase ridership, reduce traffic and pollution, CLAUDIA HUDSON and provide better mobility. Also, most cities have many transit- Oakland, CA – [email protected] dependent residents who don’t own cars and don’t live close BRUCE HAMILTON enough to walk to their workplace. When Topeka made transit free for May of 1988, ridership New York, NY – [email protected] rose 98 percent; when Austin made transit free for the fall of 1990, ridership increased MICHELLE SOMMERS by 75 percent. Maybe it’s time for city governments to start considering giving their residents Brooklyn Park, MN – [email protected] a free ride. INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES ANTHONY WITHINGTON INTERNATIONAL OFFICERS EMERITUS Sebastopol, CA – [email protected] DENNIS ANTONELLIS International President Jim La Sala, ret. Spokane, WA – [email protected] International President Warren George, ret. STEPHAN MACDOUGALL International Executive Vice President Ellis Franklin, ret. Boston, MA – [email protected] International Executive Vice President Mike Siano, ret. ANTHONY GARLAND Washington, DC – [email protected] ANTONETTE BRYANT Subscription: USA and Canada, $5 a year. Single copy: 50 cents. All others: $10 a year. Published bimonthly by the Oakland, CA – [email protected] Amalgamated Transit Union, Editor: Shawn Perry, Designer: Paul A. Fitzgerald.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. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40033361.RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES CANADIAN DIRECTOR TO:APC Postal Logistics, LLC, PO Box 503, RPO, West Beaver Creek, Richmond Hill ON L4B 4R6. MICHAEL MAHAR Rexdale, ON - [email protected] IN TRANSIT | www.atu.org 3 JULY/AUG 2014 CONTENT Vol. 123, No. 4 13 The Oscars: International Recognizes Excellent, Superior Financial Secretaries 14 Ottawa Local Worries That Cameras Could Be Used to Spy on Drivers ATU Local 1181 key to NYC Mayor’s plan to restore protections for school bus workers 15 New London Drivers Demand Adequate Bathroom Breaks, Safe and Clean Restrooms Vancouver Transit Police Address Problem of A NEW BEGINNING FOR PROGRESSIVE 8 Mentally Ill Passengers LABOR EDUCATION & ACTIVISM 16 ATU More Than Transit 18 ATU Heroes: Heroic DC Member Stops Suicide in Dramatic Struggle Over Highway on Beltway Bridge Quick Thinking Averts Tragedy Involving RIPTA Bus in Providence 19 Hamilton, ON Transit Rocked by Sexual Harassment Allegations 20 Wisconsin Transit Activists Say ‘Stop the Highway’ San Jose Driver Helps Save Woman at Bus Stop ATU PROTESTS DC TRANSIT BOARD CHIEF’S 10 21 Drivers’ Tearful Testimony Helps Pass Winnipeg CONFLICT OF INTEREST Anti-Assault Bill Toledo Transit Workers’ Campaign for New Funding Mechanism Wins Support 22 ATU Denounces FirstGroup CEO Pay Grab at 2 International Officers & General Executive Board Scotland Shareholders Meeting NEWS Briefs 23 Coach USA Charged with NYC Anti-Trust Violations 3 Index Page 24 Hanley: Supreme Court Decision a Threat to 4 How They Do It All Workers 5 Minneapolis-St. Paul Local Arranges Ride-A-Long 25 French Rail Workers, Passengers Resist Job Cuts with Rep. Ellison ‘Transit Deserts’ Impede Access to Jobs, Depress 6 OC Transpo Preparing to Hire Chief Safety Officer Economic Development Calgary Transit Welcomes 19 New Peace Officers 26 ON Transit Budget Passes, Will Public Sector Workers Get Stuck with the Bill? Edmonton City Cops to Team Up with ETS to Patrol Transit Routes 27 Public Transit Continues to Dominate Toronto Mayoral Contest 7 Canadian Agenda: ATU Continues Campaign for National Anti-Assault Legislation 28 Translations (Spanish) 31 In Memoriam 9 International President’s Message: The Hidden Violence 32 ATU Camel Coming to a Town Near You! 11 International Executive Vice President’s Message: Roll Up for the ‘Mystery Tour’ 12 International Secretary-Treasurer’s Message: Highway Robbery IN TRANSIT | www.atu.org 3 people who may be in delicate health into accepting rides Vancouver, BC local from untrained drivers. The forums also demonstrated that taxis are neither cheaper builds coalition to nor better than the service provided by Handi-DART’s fight for public transit professional workforce. Eventually, Chitrenky says, the user group started taking over the leadership of the group. Now called the “Handi-DART “You can’t fight city hall.” Riders Alliance,” the coalition generated a lot of pressure and That’s what people say when government decides it’s going the taxicab paratransit proposal appeared to die. to run roughshod over its citizens – usually for the benefit of a few. But ATU locals are finding they can fight city hall ‘Minor miracle’ if they engage their natural allies in the battle. But Local 1724 didn’t stop there. The local set about Local 1724-Vancouver, BC, is a case in point: meeting with every mayor in the area to sell them on a Earlier this year, the Translink Board – Greater Vancouver’s $7.5 billion “business plan” to improve public transit in transportation agency – began a “pilot project” diverting the Vancouver metropolitan area – a plan that included a portion of their paratransit riders into taxis, rather than sufficient funding for the growing Handi-DART service. the established Handi-DART system operated by Local As a result the Vancouver area Mayors’ Council on 1724 members. Regional Transportation adapted Local 1724’s business Local President Bob Chitrenky quickly determined that plan to produce a 30-year “vision” that defined the region’s this would be a political battle, and that he would need transportation priorities and costs. to recruit allies into a coalition to successfully fight the proposal, which could cost his members jobs. “We approached paratransit users,” Chitrenky said, “and told them they needed to get organized. We also contacted a paratransit group that had become dormant, and found them eager and willing to join the coalition. A lot of people were only too happy to jump on board.” Next, the local began sponsoring “user group forums” to explain why taxicabs are inappropriate for paratransit, and made the public aware of the consequences of pressuring 4 July/August 2014 | IN TRANSIT IN TRANSIT | www.atu.org 5 The response was immediate with the is that you can never rest on your laurels. media using words like “impressive”, And that lesson is being underscored Mnpls-St. Paul and “minor miracle” to describe the again by the recent decision of the adaptation of the plan that Local 1725 Translink board to devote $1 million local arranges dropped in the mayors’ laps. of Handi-DART’s already inadequate Peter Ladner, writing in Business budget to taxicab service, even as the ride-a-long with Vancouver, said the mayors, “produced agency boasts a surplus in the bank. a report of a quality that blew away This time, however, the Handi-DART Rep. Ellison stakeholders… They’ve mapped out Riders Alliance was easily activated, a transit future that few could argue and is fighting the reallocation of with, though some certainly will.