International President John Costa joined the ATU California Conference Board in Palm Springs today. California members have a lot to celebrate. Bay Area voters passed the Regional Transit Measure, which will raise $14 billion over 14 years for transit. Local 1555, the Conference Board and the International all worked hard to win it. Voters also rejected Prop 43, which would have made it much harder to pass the local transit funding measures we fight for.
Our Locals are organizing and growing too. Local 1756 won a mandatory 401(k) contribution at Southland, which members there never had before. We also added new units in Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento. Across the state, Locals run mentorship and registered apprenticeship programs that are training the next generation of transit workers. Local 192 alone is about to graduate more than 400 Coach Operator apprentices.
“Every win this year started with members who refused to sit on the sidelines,” said Costa. “You knocked on doors, you organized your coworkers, and you took the time to train the workers who will carry this union forward. California is showing the whole country what happens when transit workers stand together. Nobody is going to automate us out of a job, and nobody is going to make us accept violence as part of the job. We’re just getting started.”
Thank you to CCB Chair Jeff Shaffer, Secretary-Treasurer Shane Weinstein and every delegate in the room.