BusTalk

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CTA workers plan 1-day walk-off
by Jon Hilkevitch, Tribune transportation reporter
Chicago Tribune, 12/13/07

Mass transit in the Chicago area would screech to a halt from Sunday night through Monday if all goes according to plan in a one-day "job action" that CTA labor unions have approved, union officials said today.

The threatened walk-off, which union leaders insist is not a strike, aims to send the strongest message yet to the governor and lawmakers in Springfield that the deadlock over transit funding must end now, according to the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents CTA bus drivers, train operators and other employees.

If successful, the shutdown of all CTA bus and rail service for 24 hours would paralyze downtown Chicago and overwhelm transportation across the region. The CTA serves 40 suburbs.

The union's ultimate goal is to shut down all CTA, Metra and Pace operations to demonstrate the need for more transit funding and to restore balance to union pension funds and health care plans. But such a wide-spread walkout would require the cooperation of 19 unions at the three transit properties in the Regional Transportation Authority system.

"We want to make sure the public is aware of our job action ahead of time," said Rick Harris, president of ATU Local 308, which represents train operators and other employees. "We don't want to hurt the public."

"But we are fed up with the state funding situation in the legislature and the layoffs and service cuts in January," he said.

The CTA plans to lay off about 2,400 workers next month, eliminate 81 bus routes and raise fares unless new subsidies are provided to close a projected $158 million budget deficit in 2008.

In addition, the CTA's employee pension fund is underfunded and deteriorating fast. It is projected to go broke in 2012. Health benefits to CTA retirees could be cut off next summer due to underfunding.

Legislative leaders and Gov. Rod Blagojevich are at odds over how to raise new revenue for mass transit and pay for a new statewide capital improvement program.

One of the proposals still on the table to fund transit operations—increasing the sales tax in the six-county RTA region—also would include reforms in the CTA pension and retiree health care funds. The CTA would save $11 million a month under the reforms.

Under Illinois law, CTA employees and other transportation workers are prohibited from striking because they provide an essential service.

Union members say that employees who fail to work for a day are not strikers. The CTA employs more than 10,000 union members.

But CTA president Ron Huberman said he would consider any job action at the CTA an illegal activity.

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False alarm

CTA workers call off walkout
by Jon Hilkevitch, Tribune transportation reporter
Chicago Tribune, 10/14/07

CTA bus drivers and train operators this morning called off a one-day protest walkout that could have crippled area transit Monday.

After meeting with a group of religious leaders who expressed concerns about the impact of the proposed job action on their communities, the unions representing CTA workers called off a job action that was scheduled to begin Sunday night and run through Monday.

"We don't want to hurt the minorities and the school children who depend on mass transit," said Rick Harris, president of the rail workers union, Local 308 of the Amalgamated Transit Union.

All other CTA unions, including Local 241, representing CTA bus drivers, similarly agreed to call off the job action.

Union leaders said they were "standing down for now," but said they would reconsider a one-day walkout if progress is not made in Springfield to resolve the transit funding crisis.

Harris said the decision to call off the job action was made in response to the pastors' concern about its impact on their community. The decision was not affected by any possible legal action that the CTA might pursue, he said.

Under state law, transit workers provide an essential public service and are prohibited from striking.