Published 24 Jul, 2015
Following several days of procedural voting on the surface transportation reauthorization bill, the U.S. Senate voted this week to move forward with their sweeping transportation package. Unfortunately the bill included transit public private partnership language that would make it easier to privatize transit work. We have opposed this bill during negotiations and continue to do so.
TWU continues to actively engage on this issue, sending letters to Senators, issuing statements, and working with elected officials and allies to fight for the best bill for our members. We believe these negotiations should be made out in the open with input from all stakeholders, and that’s why we’re continuously sharing information about this process. The debate over this bill is not over and before anything becomes law the Senate must take a final vote, the House has to write and pass its own legislation, and President Obama has to sign it.
TWU has worked tirelessly to stand up for the key issues that affect transit workers, including funding, safety, and other workplace protections. While we maintain that a long-term surface transportation reauthorization is an important national priority, there are several provisions in the current version of the Senate bill that would negatively impact our members, and for that reason, we’ve continued to oppose this draft. In particular, we are opposed to these provisions:
- The legislation opens the door for transit systems to rely increasingly on public private partnerships (P3s). It creates a pilot program that could funnel $1.5 billion of federal money to help corporate CEOs build private, for-profit transit lines. We know that P3s are just another word for outsourcing, and we remain in strong opposition to any legislation that encourages the use of private contractors known for providing poor customer service, paying low wages, eliminating employee pensions, and attacking unions.
- Another provision on drug testing for bus and truck drivers also has the potential to harm workers. While we support roadway safety and understand the need to keep impaired drivers off the road, we cannot support the bill’s proposal to allow pre-employment drug testing of hair samples, which has not been approved by the experts responsible for identifying legitimate testing methods, and runs a high risk of contamination and false positives, particularly in certain hair colors. Hair testing is still unproven and should not be mandated in federal law at this time.
While the overall bill falls short, we recognize that it does include certain provisions that will help TWU members. For years, TWU has fought vigorously for operator safety partitions and comfort breaks on behalf of our transit workers. The bill now requires the U.S. Department of Transportation to study these measures. It also offers operating assistance for areas with sudden unemployment over 7 percent. This means that transit agencies would get some budget flexibility to help pay salaries during economic downturns. TWU fought for both of these provisions and our union passed a resolution in support of the creation of federal operating assistance at the convention.
The Senate debate on the bill may continue into next week. As we move forward with the fight to protect and improve the lives of our members we will provide regular updates on the status of this legislation. “Building a Fighting Organization,” was one of the most important convention resolutions, and President Lombardo and the IAC are committed to fulfilling those resolutions.