The Voice of Transit Workers

 

As the largest transit worker political action committee (PAC) in the United States, the Amalgamated Transit Union Committee on Political Education (ATU-COPE) is the voice of transit workers, school bus employees and over-the-road bus workers at all levels of government.

Since by law union dues cannot be used to fund political campaigns, voluntary contributions from ATU members* to ATU-COPE are used to help elect pro-labor, pro-transit candidates for local, state and federal office. Once the election is over, ATU-COPE works closely with the officials we helped elect to make sure that our members’ interests are well-represented.

Right now ATU-COPE is working to:

  • Provide record increases in federal transit funding and expand the availability of federal and state operating assistance for transit systems.
  • Fight efforts to make it easier to privatize transit and school bus workers’ jobs and weaken their collective bargaining rights.
  • Enhance security measures in America’s transit, school bus and over-the-road bus systems.
  • Preserve and expand worker health and safety laws that protect transit, school bus and over-the-road bus employees on the job.
  • Defeat state and local initiatives that seek to limit the amount of funding available for school bus transportation.
  • Promote initiatives requiring transit labor representatives on state and local transportation boards and commissions.

Recent ATU-COPE Accomplishments

  • Preserved transit worker collective bargaining and job rights in the recently-passed federal highway and transit legislation.
  • Secured federal funding for maintenance training program for transit workers.
  • Supported successful ballot initiatives to increase transit funding in Seattle, California, Minnesota and numerous other cities and states across the U.S.
  • Defeated so-called "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" (or TABOR) initiatives that would have limited funding for crucial public services, including transit and school transportation, in multiple states.

*Federal law prohibits ATU-COPE from soliciting contributions from persons who are not members of the ATU. Any contributions received from non-members will be returned to the donor.