Check out the new section of our website, “Resources.” There you can find all contracts for every property represented by ATU 1277, IBT 986 ambassadors, TCU 1315, and SMART at LA Metro, as well as union constitutions, bylaws, and meeting times and locations.
Then take a look at the Contract Comparison and Explainer. Important sections of all those contracts are explained and compared. Ever wonder who has the right to “Me Too” a contract and when? Do you want to find out if the length of your probation or the time it takes to top out is normal? Find a comparison chart as well as details on all these points and more.
We have also included important information from the local bylaws, though mainly for ATU 1277. We are still researching, so we would appreciate anyone who can send us local bylaws for their union locals or anything else useful. If you have comments or wish for more explanations, please message us!
“The timing could not have been more devastating; the decision hit just as my family had welcomed a new baby and we were on the verge of buying our first home. Overnight, a qualified, safe, and deeply committed transit operator was sidelined by bureaucracy,” an affected former Metro Train Operator told the Committee.
Hundreds of union members at the Los Angeles Metro have been stripped of their commercial driver’s licenses. A new rule from the US Department of Transportation no longer permits some immigrant workers who legally work in the US and have passed the Commercial DMV test to receive a CDL. Why are union leaders refusing to fight back? Let’s dig in.
The threat to workers’ CDLs first emerged last September when US DOT Secretary Sean Duffy issued a new rule excluding DACA recipients, among others, from receiving CDLs. According to the Train Operator the Committee spoke with, their CDL was revoked due to their DACA status.
The false idea that immigrant drivers are more likely than other drivers to have fatal accidents was first spread by Secretary Sean Duffy. The media repeated this idea, creating a false sense of urgency. The public began to believe that action was needed to ensure road safety.
It was never true. According to the government’s own data, immigrant drivers are much less likely than their peers to be involved in fatal accidents. Additionally, fatal accidents are at their lowest in years.
Again, the former Train Operator that the Committee spoke with: “Throughout my career, I have played strictly by the rules—earning two college degrees, maintaining an entirely spotless criminal record, and working hard to build a life here. However, my career was abruptly upended by a sudden federal policy shift.”
California’s DMV has so far complied with the rule, revoking CDLs as they come up for renewal. California is proving to bosses that it will be a reliable partner when it comes time to further cut driving jobs throughout transportation and logistics through technology.
A former Metro Bus Operator describes the emotional toll: “I lost not only a stable career, but also a sense of purpose, independence, and progress that I had worked hard to build. The job gave me structure, confidence, and the ability to support myself, and losing it forced me to take a significant pay cut and reevaluate my future.”
Hundreds of unionized operators and mechanics at Metro have lost their licenses. Many were reassigned as Metro Ambassadors. Metro gains the most from this. Workers with years of experience and proven reliability on the job now receive the least pay. Is it any wonder that Metro has not protested the rule change?
The bigger question is why union leaders aren’t taking action. Workers reassigned as Ambassadors are now in multiple unions, owing monthly dues to each union! While workers feel the pain of reduced pay, reset seniority, and dues doubled, union bank accounts remain safe.
Union leadership is refusing to see the flashing red light ahead. The same month California DMV stopped renewing workers’ CDLs, it started allowing public employers, like Metro, to begin using autonomous vehicles for passenger service. This shows how workers can be suddenly put out of work by new rules and replaced by technology.
Rank-and-file workers, both immigrant and native-born, must fight together. The State and Federal Government are paving the way for tech bosses to displace workers. The truth is that replacing workers through technology today only allows bosses to buy our labor cheaply tomorrow. Rank-and-file workers must fight to protect our right to good jobs with living wages. Workers at Metro must stand up for their fellow workers who have been denied a CDL. Failing to do so, they are next.
Works cited:
‘Administration Creates New Restrictions for Truck and Bus Driver Licensing’, Eno Center for Transportation
‘Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy Takes Emergency Action to Protect America’s Roads, Restrict Non-Domiciled CDLs’, US Department of Transportation
Over 100 operators and a dozen mechanics at LA Metro have been affected by the Trump & Newsom administrations cancellation of commercial drivers licenses (CDLs). Join in solidarity with unionized LA Metro workers standing up to restore CDLs for our operators and mechanics! Stand against ICE! Meet other unionists and workers in LA who share our struggle for labor conditions we all deserve!
Gather at the southeast corner of 6th and Park View at 9:45 am
As the U.S. ruling class escalates its war on Iran, they’re ramping up brutal domestic attacks against workers using ICE, and our economic conditions are worsening by the day. Gas and food prices are going up while [Teamster President] Sean O’Brien is basically there to ensure the Teamsters keeps bleeding members. On this call, union members will present on how we are organizing to ABOLISH ICE! and OPPOSE IMPERIALIST WARS!, plus how we can build up our ability to wage militant strikes-including preparing for a GENUINE GENERAL STRIKE! We must struggle to oppose union misleaders who collaborate with the bosses, the state, and Democratic Party-led nonprofits like 50501 and Indivisible, which only seek to co-opt and defang working class struggle.
This May Day, let’s revive the history of fierce working class struggle against the capitalists!
We are divided by race, gender, craft, tier, bus vs rail and union. Who benefits? Only the bosses! Yet LA Metro unions reinforce these divisions. Why? They don’t want to make waves for the company and elected officials.
This is why they only beg the company for crumbs during contract negotiations. This is why they caved and sent people back to work when requested by Democrat “friends” during our strikes in 2000 (UTU/SMART) and 2003 (ATU).
All good boxers go for a knockout. But our leaders enter the ring determined not to go for a K.O. because they support the whole system of profit. You can’t win if you don’t fight!
To win, we need a change. Join us to fight back against the bosses and their fake “friends of labor”-Democrats and Republicans alike.
We call:
To merge ATU, SMART and TCU to fight for the highest pay and benefits for all!
To stop funding the bosses’ parties, Democrat or Republican! Increase strike funds now!
To abolish tiers and steps! Equal pay for equal work!
To abolish PEPRA second-tier pensions! 23-and-out full & free pensions for all!
To coordinate action across the workforce! Down with union probation and the no-strike clause!
To defend immigrants with union action, not sanctuary state and city scams!
For a fight to end segregation on and off the job!
For free, convenient and plentiful mass transit for all!
